[mythtv-users] US to postpone analog TV death

R. G. Newbury newbury at mandamus.org
Tue Jan 27 22:53:17 UTC 2009


Brad DerManouelian wrote:
> On Jan 27, 2009, at 12:20 PM, Brian Wood wrote:
> 
>> Underground utilities cost a lot more to install and maintain than 
>> overhead
>> ones. Ask the average person if they are willing to pay more for their 
>> house
>> to have utilities underground and guess what they will say.
>>
>> They can be a bear to maintain, especialy in areas where it snows a 
>> lot. Try
>> finding one of those little  pedestals in a bunch of snowdrifts.
>>
>> Of course in L.A., where it rarely snows, you have to use a torch 
>> (american
>> meaning) to kill all of the black widows in the pedestal before you can
>> safely work.
> 
> Do you have numbers to back that up? I suspect it's expensive to replace 
> down wires and possible more insurance money for workers to climb poles 
> than to dig. I wonder if long-term there is actually cost-savings in 
> burying the wires where people can't easily get to them with cars, 
> kites, lightning, ladders, etc.
> 
I would make a small wager that doing a subdivision, etc. entirely 
underground ends up cheaper and is cheaper to maintain, then having 
electrical etc, on poles.

Water and sewage have to be underground to start, so you have to dig. It 
is not that much more expensive to add pipe for natural gas, electrical, 
cable and telephone. Then you only have watch out for hungry backhoes... 
and worry about broken water-mains.

(Happened in Toronto about a week ago. Super cold temps -> 100 year old 
water breaks -> floods underground  electrical switch point -> 5,000 
homes without power. Temperature about zero F. Apparently they ended up 
drying one of the switches with hair dryers!.

Geoff



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