Cross-Phase Wires?

[matt151617]

Question for the linemen... I was driving today and saw these wires between phases on a transmission line. First wire goes from phase 1 to phase 3, second goes from phase 2 to phase 3, and third goes from phase 3 to the ground wire. What purpose would this possible serve?

 

[sparky36000]

Are they working on lines in the area? Looks like grounding jumpers. Lines are denergized and it puts everything at ground potential for safety

 

[rockwithjason]

those are safety grounds. should the line be accidentally energized the ground set would create a fault and cause the feeder to be locked out. they will be removed when the lineman complete their work.

 

[djjsr]

PETA is having those installed to stabilize the wires. On windy days, the birds are getting motion sickness and falling off.




(I could be wrong)

 

[matt151617]

Interesting. They've been up for a couple months. There's no apparent work in the area.

 

[nehog]

Interesting. They've been up for a couple months. There's no apparent work in the area.

And no apparent power on those lines, either!!!

Above is right, safety grounds to prevent accidental circuit energizing while work is performed. What may be the deal is that there is a problem down the line a bit that has not been fixed yet (waiting for parts?)

 

[madosta]

Maybe it's the new drug deal spot instead of a pair of shoes... lol

 

[rockwithjason]

they may be up there for months or until the repair department schedules the job. sometimes the linemen switch power around a fault or other problem and then isolate and ground the line to prevent accidents . there may be one on the other side of the work zone also to create a grounded safe zone.

 

[awdblazer]

that isnt grounded, but all three phases are bonded together

 

[rockwithjason]

there are four wires there, three hots and a ground

 

[awdblazer]

haha oops looked too quickly
yah temporary protective grounds as they are called in the field

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Interesting. They've been up for a couple months. There's no apparent work in the area.

Electrical grids are designed with redundancy so whatever that section of the grid feeds, is being fed by other lines. I have seen this done before in San Jose, CA when a construction crew was working on an electric light rail line that has overhead wire. A grounding jumper was connected from the overhead lines to the train tracks below to ground out the system for safety!