Pacific Gas and Electric magazine . GG, 0. & M. Department, Hydro-Eleetric Section DURING the year1900 the BayCounties Power Com- ver saddles on pany completed theconstruction of two60,000-volt lines fromColgate power-houseto Oakland. Theselines, which havebeen in commissionever since, uponleaving Colgate tra-verse a route in a southwesterly direc-tion, passing through the towns of Wheat-land, Woodland, Davis, Dixon, Suisun,and Cordelia, thence to the narrow Car-quinez Strait in the San Pablo arm ofSan Francisco Bay, where massive towerscarry the conductors at a safe heightabove the water to t
Pacific Gas and Electric magazine . GG, 0. & M. Department, Hydro-Eleetric Section DURING the year1900 the BayCounties Power Com- ver saddles on pany completed theconstruction of two60,000-volt lines fromColgate power-houseto Oakland. Theselines, which havebeen in commissionever since, uponleaving Colgate tra-verse a route in a southwesterly direc-tion, passing through the towns of Wheat-land, Woodland, Davis, Dixon, Suisun,and Cordelia, thence to the narrow Car-quinez Strait in the San Pablo arm ofSan Francisco Bay, where massive towerscarry the conductors at a safe heightabove the water to the south shore inorder to continue the lines to Oakland. The strait of Carquinez is a very busythoroughfare for deep water ships, andin view of this fact the cables weregiven a generous clearance above thetallest masts and the towers, large factorsof safety. It was a gigantic undertakingat the time it was constructed, as noprecedent had been established fromwhich experience could be gained. The fiids of the four cables were an-. cli cables rest. chored into blocks ofconcrete buried inthe ground on eachside of the strait andthree towers sup-ported the cableshigh in the air abovethe water. Two ofthe towers, namelythe Main Tower, 224feet high, and theLeaning Tower, 84feet high, are located on the north sideof the strait and the third, called SouthTower, 64 feet high, is located on thesouth side of the strait. On the tops of the towers porcelaininsulators, similar to those used on thelines, were cemented on metal pins seton wooden crossarms. The cables restin sheaves on the tops of the the ends of the cables mica sleevesimmersed in oil completelj insulate thecables from the ground and, at tiie sametime, withstand the strain of tension onthe cables. During these fourteen years of con-tinuous operation, this unique piece ofengineering lias never failed, in spile ofthe fact (hat it is situated in a territorywliere the atmospliere is laden at all
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