Re: Power Lines

[Mark Sylvester <msylvest@XNET.IT>]

The 10kV (I believe) lines round here (Italy) certainly don't have plastic
insulation on the wires, and the lines are strung less than 1m apart. My
neighbour in the Carnian Alps was telling me the other day how in 1939 all
the buildings in that hamlet were destroyed by a fire resulting from bare
220V lines sparking through contact while swinging in the wind. Who knows
what the practice was in Ghana in the 1960's, where my two-phase bird story
originates.

Mark

At 08:44 26/02/03 -0500, Carl E. Mungan wrote:
> Okay, time for what's probably a really dumb question. Why would a
> bird touching two lines get electrocuted: Isn't there any plastic
> insulation on ordinary electrical power lines? (I'm not talking about
> the ultra-high long-distance high-voltage lines, just what one might
> find in a neighborhood.) Carl
> --
> Carl E. Mungan, Asst. Prof. of Physics  410-293-6680 (O) -3729 (F)
>        U.S. Naval Academy, Stop 9C, Annapolis, MD 21402-5026
> mungan@usna.edu    http://physics.usna.edu/physics/faculty/mungan/

Mark Sylvester
UWCAd
Duino Trieste Italy