We Inspect the Wires

Sharon Cochran (1300 block of Emerald Street NE) spoke yesterday with Greg, a contractor with W.A. Chester who, along with a colleague, was working in a manhole under a three-part grate in Emerald Street NE, near 1317. Thick electrical wires could be seen running along the walls. Greg spoke to Ms. Cochran while standing on a ladder leading down into the hole. W.A. Chester is a Pepco subsidiary.

Would you like to tell me what you're doing today?

We're basically coming out, doing inspections, making sure everything's up to date, making sure all the wires are in good condition, to prevent any blowups or power outages or anything like that.

About how deep is this hole?

That hole is about 10 feet, and 6 by 10, and it's just a transformer hole. As you can see, it gets nasty. All the trash from the roads and all that goes down in there. You have other crews that'll come out and clean them every now and then, like Flippo or Joy or someone like that.

And that's also why we come out here — we write up what kind of condition the hole itself is in — if it's stable, if the grates that sit on top of the road are strong enough, that it'll carry the weight of a car — if not they get a crew out here immediately and repair any damages.

How old do you think this manhole is?

Hmm, I don't know — it's a really old transformer. [Greg asks his colleague.] Doesn't have a date on the nameplate? It looks about anywhere from 10, 15 years old.

Oh, OK. So it's not that old.

No, it's not that old. They just have newer transformers out that they usually put in, downtown.

This is actually a fairly small hole — it's fairly clean. No syringes or anything are down there! [Chuckles.] So you've got an all right neighborhood. [Chuckles.] No rats or anything — so pest control has kept up on it. So far from what I can see, it's in fairly good shape.

All we do is we come out, we take amps on each of the wires, see how much of a load they're carrying. If they're carrying too much, they'll come out here and install new wires that can handle a heavier load. And that's pretty much it!

Great, thank you very much.

No problem. Have a good day! §