A little project we have going in South Anchorage undergrounding some existing overhead 15kV and 34.5kV circuits.



Part of the work involved cutting in a double dead end (DDE) on an existing tangent pole. We couldn't easily kill the line so the crew is working this all hot at 15kV. Protective barriers are on the three hot lines above and they have just installed the DE crossarm.



Hanging the insulators with DE shoes (to hold the conductor in place.)



All six insulators / DE shoes hung. The x-arm has built-in loops where the insulator string can be attached - usually with a simple shackle.



Installing jumpers so when the conductor is cut no outage occurs.



Now comes the fun part...
The lineman installs a grip on the conductor and attaches the (insulated) come-a-long between the grip and the DE shoe.
The idea is to take up slack on both sides of the conductor so when you cut the line one can bolt the free ends into the DE shoes.



Once the conductor is cut, the grips hold the remaining wire in the air via the new x-arm.



There was not a lot of sag in this conductor and because the new x-arm is significantly lower than the existing wire, the conductor was REALLY tight. It gets a little tricky because you need to keep the ends "under control" after you cut the conductor. No fun having live 15kV ends flopping about when you have no place to run!



Two linemen holding the (future) ends with hot sticks while the third prepares to cut the conductor.



The end on the left side remained tied to the post insulator, but you can NEVER assume anything when working a hot line!



The next day the crew had already cut-in all three phases and were dead ending the neutral.

I second DumpsterToys comment. You Power-line boys can keep your job. Did a very brief line of work involving power. Found out it wasn't for me. Be safe ULF.

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Fascinating and informative. Will never forget seeing a video of four men moving a scaffold which came into contact with overhead lines... three of the men lost their lives that day.

We had an incident in the 80s where a lineman accidently grabbed a hot (7200 volt) piece of equipment. His other hand was on the neutral, completing the circuit through his body. Even more unfortunately, he was working the pole on hooks, so the shock knocked him off the pole and he fell about 40-45 feet. I saw him about 6 months later - he was confined to a wheelchair because the fall broke his back and had lost both arms at the elbows. He was a very experienced lineman, but it shows how lethal the stuff is. One moment of stupidity up there and your entire life can be dramatically changed...

Whatever they pay those guys, it's not enough!!

Great photos, such a intricate process, thanks for sharing!

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