Pretoria power crisis: Eskom replaces collapsed pylons with massive monopoles
Eskom has started work to restore power and repair damage after seven pylons collapsed in the City of Tshwane on Sunday night.
Vandalism has been linked to at least three of the seven damaged pylons, which collapsed along the N4 freeway. It led to a massive power outage, with over 40 suburbs still without power on Tuesday night, News24 reported. The outage also led to the car manufacturer Ford closing its plant. This is an output loss of 720 vehicles a day.
Eskom is assisting the City and has provided three monopoles which are already on site, said Daphne Mokwena, the utility's interim spokesperson.
The monopoles differ from the pylons in that the base is solid concrete, with the bottom being thicker than the top, said Mokwena. The foundation on which they are mounted is also made of concrete.
With pylons, the tower members (near the bottom) are targeted by thieves. When these are stolen, then it is easier for pylons to collapse when there is wind, Mokwena explained.
The monopoles being provided by Eskom are locally manufactured. They are 23 meters tall, Mokwena said.
The City will provide nine other pylons, which will be 20 meters tall.
Replacing the pylons as they were, would take longer, which is also why the monopoles are being considered. The area of the new powerlines will cover 3km, as opposed to the 1km initially thought. It is not yet known how much repairing the damage would cost.
A preliminary schedule indicated that the repairs could be done by Thursday latest – but this is not yet confirmed.
"We have started work on site," Mokwena said. The pace at which work will be completed depends on the availability of resources, she added, saying:.
Our major focus now is to get the structures up and get the customers back on.
Eskom is involved with the repairs due to its competencies with high voltage structures and its resources and equipment - like trucks – needed to assist the City.
Comments
The
content
you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.
If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.
If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.
For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation