×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Determining Distribution Project Length

Determining Distribution Project Length

Determining Distribution Project Length

(OP)
Hello,

I am a system planning engineer at a consulting firm for electric distribution utilities. Among my tasks is to develop construction work plans, identifying future projects, line upgrades/additions, etc. These work plans are used for future spending estimation and purchasing... the length of each project (e.g. 4.3 miles of three phase 336 ACSR) needs to be fairly accurate.

I had never considered changes in elevation, as I used to work in a pretty flat area. I now work in a very hilly area, and clients have been asking me to give more thought to elevation changes in my length estimation.

The idea I'm currently playing with is drawing a path in Google Earth. I've found a tool online that will allow you to import a kmz file, and it will spit out a text file of length and elevation per plotted point, which I then use with some Excel magic to come up with accurate length of projects.

So one question... is there a way I can get the elevation information exported out of Google Earth without going through a third party? I have not yet found a way.

Another question... does anybody have another method they use, or any other ideas?

RE: Determining Distribution Project Length

Personally, I think it is crazy to worry about the difference in line length from elevation changes at the planning stage. Consider that if you had a 30% grade (maybe possible if the line is in Tibet), you would increase the length only 4.4%. Other variables will cause errors in the estimates much larger than this.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources