ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 18, 1995                   TAG: 9507180040
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                 LENGTH: Medium

MOVING THE JUICE

THERE ARE FEW OPPONENTS to this power line, unless you count the sheep. And if they say ``Baa,'' what the heck?

The juice isn't flowing yet, but by mid-November 69,000 volts of electricity will travel along a new power line that is part of a $2.6 million relocation and replacement project by Appalachian Power Co.

The line isn't expected to harm any of Virginia Tech's 900 sheep, said a sheep center employee. But it will run straight over the sheep pasture and other Tech farm land to connect Apco's Prices Fork and Lane power stations. It will replace an existing above-ground line on campus.

Most of the new line also will be above ground, except for a short section that crosses under Prices Fork Road and some private property in the town before popping back up again on the university's land.

Ted Aaron, area superintendent for Apco, said the existing line needed to be replaced because growth in and around the town of Blacksburg put a greater load on the line, and Tech requested the relocation to make room for future expansion. Apco had to move a section of the line in the early 1980s to accommodate the university's veterinary school construction.

The relocation takes some strain off the Blacksburg power station, which is owned by Tech but houses university and Apco equipment, Aaron said.

The Prices Fork station will be reinforced by the additional power line and alternate feed, making outages less likely and easier to restore, he added.

Tech also asked Apco to bury another existing above-ground line that skirts the campus along Prices Fork Road between Old Glade and Toms Creek roads, Aaron said. Putting in underground lines is expensive; it costs 10 times more than an above-ground line. For example, if it cost $125,000 for a mile of above-ground line (prices depend on the project, but Aaron offered that figure as a norm), it would cost $1.2 million for the same mile underground.

Apco worked with Tech and the town of Blacksburg on the planning of this project, which should be finished by the end of the year. 


 by CNB