THE UNDERGROUND INSTALLATION OF UTILITIES 395 



4. Present design dates back to 1959 and service reliability has 

 been excellent. (This tends to eliminate a major question mark for 

 many utilities. ) 



5. The swing to underground residential distribution is accelerat- 

 ing as the cost ratio of underground to overhead lowers. 



Practical answers are being found by electrical manufacturers and 

 utilities. Residential distribution is going underground and that 

 part of the problem will soon be approaching complete solution. 



The picture looks vastly different, however, when considering high 

 voltage transmission systems. 



The present difference in costs between overhead construction and 

 underground is so great that underground construction is definitely 

 impractical except in those metropolitan high-rise areas where it 

 can be justified by extremely high load density. This cost difference 

 has been stated to be 5-15 times greater for underground under 

 some circumstances, and as high as 50 times greater for extra high 

 voltage lines in other situations. I can offer little hope that this prob- 

 lem can be solved in the near future. 



As frustrating as this problem may appear, there are, however, 

 things we can do and should do. 



First, it seems to me, all of us should give encouragement with time, 

 effort and money to intensified research for improved underground 

 transmission line materials, equipment and technology to foreshorten 

 the time necessary to reach the goal of underground transmission. 



Perhaps one of the answers might be found in underground direct 

 current transmission, if concentrated research were able to overcome 

 the termination problems and costs. 



Next, why not direct our attention into those areas where interim 

 measures might produce improvements in appearance of these 

 lines, although falling short of the ultimate of underground installa- 

 tions? In this regard, I would like to suggest a few ideas which, 

 though untested, might stimulate thought and discussion. 



1. When laying out the route of long distance high voltage lines, 

 why not try to select rights-of-way that would tend to hide the line, 

 blend it into the surroundings through which it will travel, and place 

 it so as to preserve natural scenic beauty even though hi isolated 

 areas? Perhaps if we give equal weight to the factor of appearance 

 in our considerations, the shortest distance between two points isn't a 

 straight line any more. 



779-595 65 26 



