|
Public utilities are a often overlooked but important element of crossection design. "Overhead utilities typically include electric, telephone, and cable television. For new construction in urban areas, electric, telephone, and other telecommunication lines are now often placed underground."
Utilities
One element of cross-section design that is often overlooked is the accommodation of public utilities. Overhead utilities typically include electric, telephone, and cable television. For new construction in urban areas, electric, telephone, and other telecommunication lines are now often placed underground.
Motor vehicle collisions with utility poles result in approximately 10 percent of all fixed-object fatal crashes in the United States annually. Utility poles also have a negative affect on the aesthetics of a roadway. It is important, therefore, whether designing in rural or urban locations, to consider accommodating utilities early in the design process.
The most desirable design solution, in terms of safety for overhead utilities, is to locate the utility poles where they are least likely to be struck by a vehicle. (The same is true for sign and luminaire supports.) The 1996 AASHTO Roadside Design Guide notes the following options for the location and design of utilities:
Bury power and telephone lines underground
Increase lateral pole offset
Increase pole spacing
Combine pole usage with multiple utilities
Use a breakaway pole design
Use traffic barriers to shield poles
Burying power and telephone lines, although the safest and most aesthetically pleasing option, is also the most expensive. For example, during the reconstruction of 1.66 km (1.03 miles) of Carson Street in the city of Torrance, CA, all the existing overhead utilities were placed underground at a cost of about $2.3 million, or approximately 37 percent of the total project cost. Because of these tradeoffs, the design and location
of utilities requires public input and should be considered early in the design of each project.
|
Excerpt details: