CHINCOTEAGUE: Crane strikes island power line; repairs Friday

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080403/NEWS01/80403060/-1/ESN

By Stephen Furness

CHINCOTEAGUE — A crane involved in construction of the new Chincoteague bridge struck high-voltage power lines Tuesday morning, an accident that left officials thankful that nobody was injured and came close to leaving the island’s roughly 4,300 people without electricity for 24 hours or more.

As it was, the town lost power for about 20 minutes after a construction crane damaged one of two transmission circuits leading to the island in Black Narrows channel around 9:50 a.m.

he cable was buzzing with about 69,000 volts of electricity when it was damaged.
“They were very fortunate that no one was injured or killed, to be quite honest with you,” said Vernon Brinkley, president of A&N Electric Cooperative.

He said construction crews may have violated some work requirements when the crane hit the cable.

Bruce Garber, who is the Virginia Department of Transportation consultant for the Chincoteague bridge construction project, said the incident caused a electrical short that burned through one of the main circuit cables that feeds power to the island.

To help in its repair, Garber said the American Bridge Co., which is building the structure, will allow an ANEC utility truck to be barged over to where the damage occurred and repair the circuit cable.


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