Live working - A cutting-edge technique

121 Pages·2014·19.8 MB·English

This book is published by RTE.
Publication manager: Louis Devatine (SERECT)
Project leader: Guillaume Héroin (SERECT)
Design and creation
Les Éditions Textuel, 2013
4 impasse de Conti 75006 Paris
www.editionstextuel.com
Graphic layout: Vincent Gebel
Translation: A Propos Langues
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LIVE
WORKING
A CUTTING-EDGE
TECHNIQUE
50 YEARS OF FRENCH HISTORY
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CONTENTS
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06 Preface
09 1910 to today. An exceptional story
13 1840-1956. From the saga of linemen
to the birth of LW
17 1956-1959. Exploratory missions
21 1960-1970. The time of pioneers
28 1971-1990. A new way
38 1990-2005. International development
46 2005 to today. Dawn of a new era
53 “Live” men
57 In the fi eld, LW workers
59 The world of low voltage
61 HV-A teams
62 Linemen and substation workers on HV-B
66 Workers in the sky
69 Training to support the professionalism of operators
72 SERECT, expertise to help operators
79 Towards new technical challenges
83 The principles of LW
90 Tools and operator protection
98 Accessibility and ergonomics of the workstation
106 And tomorrow...
112 Afterwords
116 Glossary
118 Photo credits/Thanks
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PREFACE
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Live Working is a cutting-edge LW developed very rapidly in the three voltage
but frequently unrecognised technique with real levels: LV, HV-A and HV-B. SERECT develops its
French expertise gained over more than own tools and invests in research. The behaviour
50 years. This unusual story deserved to be told. of the air gap is dissected, analysed then turned
into rules. This work, which has continued for
First of all, France is not the fi rst country to many years, will give France a head start in
develop this method of working without LW, particularly working under rain conditions,
cutting the power. Others, such as the United behaviour of the air gap when a conductive
States, Russia or even Sweden have developed part is inserted (concept of fractionation) or
their own techniques, guided by different helicopter-based work.
requirements. In France, the growing concern
about quality of service and reducing the SERECT still operates under the same name.
number of power cuts for work to be carried out It is a registered trademark and an entity
as well as the safety of operators are the main that has spanned the years without its roles
issues that led EDF to undertake studies and changing greatly. A large number of LW
then develop Live Working (LW). operations are carried out on electrical
installations, at all voltage levels, and the
Initially, we reproduced the techniques used accident rate has decreased considerably.
in other countries but the experience gained This is the measure of a safe technique that
rapidly enabled us to develop a different has been widely proven that network operators
technique, unique in the world, based on risk cannot ignore as it is linked to the very design
analysis and defi ning a corpus of safety rules to of networks.
be better suited to the operation to be carried
out. The French method was born. LW in France So I pay tribute to the men and women who,
has been structured around an LW Committee for more than 50 years, have written the story
responsible for approving rules and methods told in this book. •
and an expert body, SERECT; both were very
quickly found to be effective. Louis DEVATINE
Director, SERECT
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1910
TO TODAY
AN
EXCEPTIONAL
STORY
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W hen it comes to electricity,
it is now unthinkable that we should deprive
customers of service continuity. Avoiding power
cuts, maintaining a high level of availability for
networks, ensuring the safety of operators and
third parties, continuously adapting to technical
developments: these are the issues in Live
Working. Invisible to users, this technique is
now essential and forms an integral part of the
design of electricity transmission and distribution
networks. Methods and tools developed in
France to carry it out successfully are the act
of a single entity, a centre of expertise that has
always been retained, from its creation within
EDF to its attachment to RTE: SERECT.
Founded in the 1960s, however, the history of
French Live Working is far from being a long and
smooth-fl owing river. This is a tale marked by
innovation and courage, and punctuated
by spectacular advances.
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