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Man Shocked To Find Out Power Line Rappelling Is Dangerous

Posted by samzenpus on from the never-underestimate-the-stupid dept.

Eugene Scott Duncan's decision to rappel down a high voltage power line tower behind his house ended as you might predict it would. When he finally touched one of the wires, that carry as much as 46,000 volts, he fell to the ground and was taken to Raleigh General Hospital. Police say they will investigate the incident and may charge Duncan with trespassing on the line.

5 comments

  1. Pic doesn't seem to match up with story by petermgreen · · Score: 1

    The linked article has no pictures and the one posted here looks like a higher voltage line than is mentioned in the story to me.

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    1. Re:Pic doesn't seem to match up with story by madsci1016 · · Score: 1

      It is. That's more like a 250 or 500 KV line.

    2. Re:Pic doesn't seem to match up with story by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thats a British 400KV "supergrid" line

  2. Inaccurate by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Touching one of the wires shouldn't be a problem -- birds do it all the time. Touching two of the wires, or getting between one of the wires and a path to ground IS a big problem. Unfortunately, this guy hasn't completely removed himself from the gene pool, so he doesn't qualify for a Darwin award, but let's all wish him better luck next time!

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    1. Re:Inaccurate by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      Touching one of the wires shouldn't be a problem -- birds do it all the time. Touching two of the wires, or getting between one of the wires and a path to ground IS a big problem.

      The line he was using to rappel probably wasn't sufficiently insulating to avoid being a conductor to ground. Especially after he handled it with his sweaty body.

      Also, the field strength (volts/inch) is significantly higher near the tower than on the span (because the tower brings ground up near the wires, reducing their effective spacing.) The insulator stacks are designed to be close to breakover, both to save money and so they are self-cleaning. (Dust gets blasted off by a quick arc in damp weather). Bypass too much of that gap with a conductive body and the arc will jump the rest of the way, filling in the gaps both between the wire and you and between you and the tower.

      Doing the "cherry-picker tied to the line" or "helicopter to the line and crawl along it" stunts for working bare-handed require care to avoid having the power "reach out and touch" you. Dropping onto a highline with rappel gear doesn't cut it.

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