Categorized | Business, Energy, Featured, Volcano

HELCO power poles still standing in the lava flow

A HELCO utility pole which was hardened against the onslaught of the lava flow appears to be surviving Saturday (Oct 25). Photo courtesy of HELCO

A HELCO utility pole which was hardened against the onslaught of the lava flow appears to be surviving Saturday (Oct 25). Photo courtesy of HELCO

MEDIA RELEASE

A HELCO utility pole which was hardened against the onslaught of the lava flow appears to be surviving in the lava flow Saturday (Oct 25). Photo courtesy of HELCO

A HELCO utility pole which was hardened against the onslaught of the lava flow appears to be surviving in the lava flow Saturday (Oct 25). Photo courtesy of HELCO

HILO, October 25, 2014 – Hawai‘i Electric Light reports that its power poles along Apa‘a Street currently remain in place as the lava flow crossed the road earlier this morning. There are no outages at this time.

“We are encouraged by the initial result of the pole protection design, but the long term results are still not determined,” said spokeswoman Rhea Lee. “We will continue to closely monitor the flow and its effect on our infrastructure. As the lava flow progresses, we expect the lava will rise and inflate. This is the second test of our experimental design.”

As there are new developments, updates will be provided to the media and public and also posted on Hawai‘i Electric Light’s website http://www.hawaiielectriclight.com, Twitter (@HIElectricLight), and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/HawaiianElectric accounts.

5 Responses to “HELCO power poles still standing in the lava flow”

  1. chris sullivan says:

    OK, now who is going to be the HELCO lineman to go work on that pole?

  2. Pam Hanks says:

    I know this may sound stupid but is it possible to Divert the Lava Flow. ie. bulldoze lower ground trench type things to the ocean to divert the path of the Lava?

    • Baron says:

      Hawaii County Civil Defense and Dept of Public Works has said several times that when they get an idea of where the lava may inundate Highway 130 they will tear apart the roadway to hopefully keep the flow within this broken open channel.

      Other than that they have no plans on using diversion techniques other than the protection around utility poles and the possibility of using water from fire hoses to cool some of the lava when it’s in Pahoa Town. But this isn’t like Iceland where they used an army of hoses pumping millions of gallons of water from the ocean 24/7 to slow/divert their lava flow.

      Diverting the lava flow also would assume liability should any diversion appear to steer the flow into a residence. Even with the current low points in the terrain outlined by the USGS/HVO on maps you can see that the lava doesn’t always follow the lowest path. The lava builds-up upon itself causing high points, thus you can’t trust it following low terrain like water would.

  3. shaun says:

    Right Baron, this is not Iceland, this is the land of yakuzas, dopeheads and welfare deadbeats who make excuses and do fkall.

  4. shaun says:

    Right Baron this is by no means Iceland. How do you dare compare competent humans with a bunch of bozos that live of food stamps, smoke meth and do nothing all day long. The Civil Defense macaco and his buddy Mr. Mayor Honolii are worthless and it shows.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks


Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

 

Quantcast