Electrical engineer warns of impending infrastructure failure
Henry Barnard wants the City of Ekurhuleni to consider adding another cable to the grid.
Henry Barnard, former Brakpan Town Council electrical engineer from Brenthurst, writes:
The system installed in the 1960s is on its way to being overloaded.
I recommend that the City of Ekurhuleni installs more cables to distribute the load to avoid system failure and infrastructure damage.
In 1965, the council of Brakpan decided to install a 33kv system to provide for the future expansion of the town to the south.
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The system uses three aluminium cables with special joints that were made by a cable joiner brought in from England.
Brakpan’s main supply is now established at the Van Eck Park Substation, which feeds power to the whole town south of Power Street, as well as its extensions to the south, excluding Tsakani.
Initially, the power load used two cables, with a third cable available as a backup in case one failed.
Now, all three cables are used with the increased population and power demand, and should one fail, the system will be overloaded.
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When I first installed the system it cost about R7m. I estimate that adding an additional cable of a similar design will cost about R600/700m today.
The cables need to be handled extremely carefully, and manholes need to be properly covered, as water and dust on the joints can cause severe corrosion and damage, threatening the integrity of the joints and by proxy the whole system.
When I installed the first system, we put concrete slabs over the cables to protect them if people dug above them.
The new cable will have to have similar measures in place to protect it. I call upon the city to undertake this project as soon as possible before the system fails.
