High Voltage near miss

[Essex Rob]

See a digger today hit 11kv line.

Edited February 15, 2019 by Essex Rob

[bmp01]

19 minutes ago, richy_B said:

Is just touching the cables enough to do this? You don't need to break/damage them? 

Yep. Wires in the air have no insulation on them. Have a look at where the wires are held, you'll see a isolator between wire and support.

 

Proper scary stuff. ....

 

 

[tre]

Occasionally the 11kv cables WILL have insulation, eg, where the power line passes over a phone line. 

I have to say though even then, I'd be avoiding getting anywhere near them with any kit, even fibreglass poles.

That electric stuff'll kill ya!

[oldwoodcutter]

As an old linesman advised me about 50 years ago, the only difference between 11k and 33k is that one will kill you a bit quicker than the other, and I’ve never forgotten his dry words of wisdom.

[Mark Bolam]

If there’s one line in arb I’d like to delete, and I’ve heard far too often is - ‘They’re insulated’.

[inthewoods]

If you find yourself in this situation and you need to bail out of the vehicle, don't run, hop on one foot until you're 20 foot away,(seriously!) from memory I think the ground is live from about 10ft away from the conducted / contacting vehicle but it's been a decade since being with sse so hopefully someone with some more recent knowledge will expand on this. 

[Haironyourchest]

9 hours ago, inthewoods said:

If you find yourself in this situation and you need to bail out of the vehicle, don't run, hop on one foot until you're 20 foot away,(seriously!) from memory I think the ground is live from about 10ft away from the conducted / contacting vehicle but it's been a decade since being with sse so hopefully someone with some more recent knowledge will expand on this. 

You can shuffle too. Maybe better then hopping, in case you fall over.

[billpierce]

You can shuffle too. Maybe better then hopping, in case you fall over.

Someone explain what your on about? Is it to do with not sending current via your heart? Potentially youd be quite safe on a space hopper

[Khriss]

10 minutes ago, billpierce said:

40 minutes ago, Haironyourchest said:

You can shuffle too. Maybe better then hopping, in case you fall over.

Someone explain what your on about? Is it to do with not sending current via your heart? Potentially youd be quite safe on a space hopper

I will pay a weeks wages , Bill , to watch you polesawing on a space hopper ! K ( feet touch ground n yr bust )

[openspaceman]

22 minutes ago, billpierce said:

52 minutes ago, Haironyourchest said:

You can shuffle too. Maybe better then hopping, in case you fall over.

Someone explain what your on about? Is it to do with not sending current via your heart? Potentially youd be quite safe on a space hopper

Ignoring the practicalities of this; if the vehicle is insulated from the ground then stepping out with one foot on the ground and part of the body in the vehicle completes a circuit, ZAP you're dead. Jump out and as long as the voltage your body is at cannot arc between the ground and vehicle you may survive.

 

If the vehicle has grounded the current then a current is flowing from the overhead, through the vehicle, and it is then radiating out through the ground trying to complete the circuit back to the generator. As such the is a voltage gradient across the soil you are standing on. If your legs are apart then your body will provide an alternative path for the current because one foot is on soil that is at a higher potential than the other foot.

 

Cattle are very sensitive to this because their hooves make good contact with damp soil and the path from front legs to back is via the heart, there are cases of cattle being killed by being near a lightning strike  because of this, as the current radiates away from the strike it creates a potential between one leg and the next.