Aging Infrastructures

As electric system equipment like utility poles, power transformers, and circuit breakers gets older, it deteriorates due to the wear and tear of continued service and the natural effects of time. Eventually, it just “wears out.” Many utility systems in the United States, Canada, and the rest of the world were originally built many decades ago. In some of these systems, a large portion of the equipment now in service was installed 50, 60, 70, or even more than 80 years ago. It has still provided satisfactory service, but this equipment is old, and bound to fail or raise problems in the near future. Thus, utilities have aging infrastructures – entire areas where everything is considerably old and deteriorating. This is a source of concern and study from a number of perspectives.

Topics covered:

• A High Level Summary of Aging Infrastructures
• The Aging Infrastructure Panic
• It's Not Really Age That Matters. It's Condition.
• Equipment Starts Failing from the Moment it is Installed
• Failure Rate Increases Very Gradually as a Function of Age
• Not All Equipment Fails at the Same Age
• An Aged Infrastructure is Made Up of Survivors
• Ages in Any Infrastructure, Particularly an Old One are Well Mixed
• The Sustainable Point
• Civil and Structural Facilities Are the Greatest Long-term Concerns
• Make Aging Infrastructure Programs Part of Long-term Mainstream Operations
• Services Offered
• Quanta Technology Experts in Aging Infrastructure Management