The Oatmeal, Nikola Tesla, and Geek Chic Rhetoric
In the last two weeks Matthew Inman’s crowd-funding campaign “Let’s Build a Goddamn Tesla Museum” raised over $1,148,0000 to preserve Wardenclyffe (1901-1917), the 200-acre site seventy miles east of New York City where the scientist and inventor Nikola Tesla built a tower to wirelessly transmit electric power across the Atlantic. Tesla’s plans for a “Worldwide … Continue reading
Notes on the Urge to Underground
I am tormented by questions; answer them for me. You, for instance, want to cure men of their old habits and reform their will in accordance with science and good sense. But how do you know, not only that it is possible, but also that it is desirable to reform man in that way? -Fyodor … Continue reading
Powerline: The First Battle in America’s Energy War (1981)
Nobody wants a utility company to build power lines across their land—few are willing to douse themselves in pig shit, spray state troopers with ammonia, or use high-powered rifles to splice overhead wires. Nobody wants a utility company to build power lines across their land—few are willing to douse themselves in pig shit, spray … Continue reading
Designing new transmission towers
In 2011, structural engineers at the Bonneville Power Administration built software to create stronger, cheaper transmission towers. Aesthetics does not seem to hold a place in the equation. “To most people, a tower is a tower,” admits David Hesse, who created the Advanced Tower Analysis and Design System. “The industry hasn’t invested in improving tower … Continue reading
If a utility tower falls in Chino Hills, does the industry hear it?
As the “Press/Public Perceptions” page shows, the recent construction of high-voltage infrastructure has drawn outrage from local residents who take the general position that lines should go “underground” or “somewhere else.” Media outlets are quick to give voice to these innocuous publicity battles between giant utility companies and their ugly power lines and the individual … Continue reading
Instagram, Power Lines, and the #electricalsky
Each Friday, the app and photo-sharing site Instagram publishes a “weekend hashtag challenge” that encourages users to focus their lenses on everyday objects such as “rust” “lights at night,” or “fences,” and tag them accordingly: #rustingaway, #alightinthedark, #throughthefence. The challenge draws a digital critical mass that uploads every minute ubiquitous scenes from across the planet. … Continue reading
Power lines as Tight Rope
Building new transmission lines forces electric companies to walk a tight rope strung between at least two platforms: one is buttressed by engineering principles and the other is constructed of public opinion. Both are potentially unstable. The electric company often keeps their fixed eye on the first platform and devotes massive capital and manpower to … Continue reading
Contentious Line in Chino Hills
Most of my post are devoted to new views of the wires in our environment, but it would be irresponsible to ignore the ire with which new lines are often met. A new line being built through a suburban neighborhood in Chino Hills has evoked outrage. Concerned citizens have responded by developing a formidable grassroots … Continue reading
Power lines Taxonomy: A Proposal
It is difficult to get the public to give positive attention to power lines, but one marginal group that seems drawn to the wiry structures that blanket our skies. The “Power Lines” group on Flickr boasts over 3,866 members that have uploaded over 21,500 photos of power lines. More members and more photos are added … Continue reading
Avantages et Inconvénients liés a la forme des supports
StructuralSupportFormsPDF This “Tableu” from a book published by a power company in Quebec reviews the advantages and disadvantages of various forms. The largest pylon, “P” has the disadvantage having “high, wide grip.”
Power-lined 