The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-18
UTILITIES HARD
HIT BY SEVERE
WINTER WEATHER

& Public utilities in New England
have been hit hard by the severe
weather of the past few months. None
has escaped damage of some kind.
The Southern New England Tele-
phone Co. has suffered an extensive
plant damage and it is now estimated
that the financial outlay for clearing
its underground cables and hundreds
of manholes of accommodations of ice
and water will be at least five times
as large as the outlay during any
winter for many years past.
The aerial lines were not affected
to the extent that the service was in
terrupted, except, perhaps, in isolated
cases but the weight of the winters
trouble fell on the underground
cables which were greatly damaged
in cities along thee cast and suffered
also to some extent in inland cities.
Surface water from the streets
seeped into manholes and has not as
in other years, been able to find a
way out by absorption by the earth
because the ground has been frozen
to such an unusual depth. The
water, not being taken up by the
earth, has frozen solid in the under
ground pipes. The expansion of the
water as it froze, had the effect of a
great weight on the lead sheathing
which covers the telephone cables.
This weight forced the sheathing
together and the pressure was of suf-
ficient force to break the paper in
sulation on the wires in the cables
With the paper broken, the bare wires
have been brought into contact and
short circuits have resulted.
In other cases where water enter
ed the underground pipes the pres
sure, as it froZe, cracked the lead
sheathing. The water then seeped
through these cracks and saturated
the paper insulation. The paper, be-
ing porous, carried the water along
the cable underneath the sheathing.
Then arrived a freezing period and
this water SroZe to the sheathing and
a stretch of cable anywhere from 10
feet to 100 feet would be rendered
practically useless.
Manholes by the hundred have
filed with ice in every city in the
state. A little water would drop into
the manholes from time to time. AS
there was absolutely no outlet for
this water because of the condition
of the ground, it would not be long
before the manhole was filled, or par
TALLY filled with ice. At the present
time there are manholes in New Ha-
ven, Bridgeport, Hartford, Waterbury
and other cities of the state in which
there are solid blocks of ice from
three to six feet thick. 1t has been
necessary in some instances to chip
these great blocks of ice away Sc
they could be shoveled out of the
manholes and service restored on
some cables that were badly dam
aged. With the manholes rid of ice
| it has also been necessary to cut away
| that section of cable that was frozen
and replace it with new and dry
| cable. This work has been done I'M
der the greatest difficulties, and the
| workmen have actually suffered the
| tortures of badly frostbitten hands
and feet.
The ice pressure in the under
ground pipes has cracked hundreds
of cables about the state, it is feared
Not all of the breaks have thus fal
been uncovered, but are being repair
ed as speedily as possible.
Realizing that broken cables mus
exist, the officials anticipate further
trouble when the ice thaws and the
water gets into the cables and works
the damage that only water can work
with telephone lines. In fact trouble
of a more extensive. nature than ha'
thus far been experienced is likely
to come with a continued spell Of
warm weather.
At the present time the company i:
| thawing out some of the underground
pipes by forcing steam into then
and the company has also used cleo.
trical thawing apparatus.