Cholla Bay blackout

mexicoruss

Lovin it in RP!
Thursday nights storm blew over 10 main feeds in Cholla Bay we won't have power for about 3 days they say. Crews are coming in from San Luis to help in removing the fallen poles as there is no access in or out of Cholla right now except for a sketchy road up by the mountain.

a cholla pole down.jpg
 

mexicoruss

Lovin it in RP!
Update, CFE (power company) says power will be restored tonight (Friday night) they have been working on it since last night at around midnight.
 

mexicoruss

Lovin it in RP!
We'e underground in Miramar, but there are poles that feed us, so no one is completely safe!
Almost all transmission lines are above ground and subject to failure. If they go it doesn't matter that your lines are underground. These poles were made of reinforced concrete but the wind was so strong that they just couldn't withstand it plus they are about 15 years old. They were replaced with standard wooden poles which probably will last longer.
 

brokenwave

Well Known Member
Russ is right, wooden poles last.
The area where I have a house has many concrete poles with the top half of the concrete is eroding away from the wind. (installed 1996)
The re-bar has been exposed for the past 10 years and only getting worse.
When Hurricane Nora hit in 1997 it broke a couple of the concrete poles from people's roof's hanging in the power lines
that were ripped off from the wind.
CFE replaced them with wooden poles that still look good 22 years later.
 

Roberto

Well Known Member
If you drive out to the tip of Las Conchas, just before Tessoro you can view what can happen to concrete poles. I was shocked to see a spiderweb of rebar connecting two chunks of concrete. I believe that the quality of concrete here varies widely. I am amazed to see concrete for homes being mixed by a portable mixer and a guy shoveling in dry cement and what they call sand. I have seen workers shovel 'sand' from empty lots to use.
 
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