Faults on cable terminations (as well as cable joints) are a significant problem of cable lines. Termination fault also means that a section of cable inside and near the termination may be damaged too. Therefore, for the installation of a new termination instead of broken one, not only new termination itself is required, but also some cable reserve. Another reason for organizing a cable reserve is to compensate for temperature fluctuations in the length of the cable (even small size reserve would be enough).

A cable reserve is usually provided during the construction of a cable line when cable is laid in the ground in the form of a snake near the cable termination. Unfortunately, snake is not always possible, for instance if cables are laid in smooth-walled pipes which are hard to be bent.

Even with no pipes, snake-type laying of cables in the ground has some other issues. For instance, in order to take advantage of the cable reserve laid by the snake in the ground, it is necessary to carry out excavation work and dig up the cable in order to straighten the snake and thereby obtain the cable reserve necessary to start installing a new termination. Of course, such excavation works are fraught with difficulties, including any excavation of the cable can lead to its mechanical damage (by construction machinery or even shovels). That is why people don’t stop looking for other options to provide a cable reserve. One of these options is presented in the photos.

This solution was applied in Turkey on transition tower of mixed cable and overhead transmission line. The cable reserve was not laid in the ground, but directly along the tower. Such a solution has no analogues, but still can hardly be considered ideal. For example, if we need to straighten the middle single-core cable, then how will it be fixed to the tower?

There’s something else that cable society need to discuss. Certain engineers, based on their experience, say that in case of serious cable termination fault, the cable reserve of standard length is not enough to mount a new cable termination. And they say, “Is it worth making any kind of cable reserve at all?”