The Protection of Underground Distribution Lines Against Pocket Gopher Damage by Chemical Methods

Abstract

The trend to underground distribution construction provides relief from some causes of service interruption, but in certain areas service interruptions are then possible due to pocket gopher damage. The protection of underground distribution lines against pocket gophers is accomplished by the use of a chemical, termed R-55 <R xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">®</R> Repellent. Water solutions of this chemical are applied to an earth envelope about the installation which provides a repellent barrier to pocket gophers. Applications of the repellent solution are not complicated, especially when a recently developed device is used for plow-in installations. This chemical has been proven effective by controlled field tests, cooperative field trials, and commercial use over a period of years and is approved for use in this application. No significant resistivity or physical changes were noted in tests where water solutions of the repellent were applied on thermoplastic semiconducting insulation shielding. It is recommended as a low-cost effective method for the reduction of service interruptions due to pocket gophers.