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0 pointsKihashi8y ago0 comments

That's interesting, since it seems to be the opposite in the US. I always assumed that was because it was cheaper to run lines on poles rather than doing the digging that could be dozens and dozens of miles. What makes it different, I wonder?

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emodendroket8y ago· 2 in thread

Part of it has to be that our infrastructure is among the oldest (presumably the same reason we use a form of power socket with relatively few safety features to prevent electrocution, still have lead pipes in places, etc.).

Symbiote8y ago

Are those wires really 80 years old though? [1] (just the abstract) suggests overhead wires need replacement after 50 years. In any case, towns in Europe were electrified at a similar time to America. (Rural areas probably aren't comparable, with the bigger distances in the US being the reason Europe was first for this.)

[1] http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/595590/?reload=true

emodendroket8y ago

Probably most of them are not, but I would imagine that the upkeep has been done in a largely piecemeal basis rather than them regularly redoing everything.

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