My curiousity is driving me crazy
about this thing!
Alongside the Northwest Tollway
(I-90), adjacent to the NW quadrant of the interchange
with Elmhurst Rd (Rte. 83),
there is what seems to be a
large and deep retention basin;
however, it has what appear to
be very heavy duty electric
transmission towers and cables
contained within.
What is this installation and
what purpose does it serve?
I am a very technical person
and I cannot figure out what
it is just by looking at it.
Please answer this for me.
(BTW: you have a great column,
keep up the good work)
Is there any reason to believe that a collection of heavy duty pylons and associated buildings isn’t just a substation?
I’m assuming here that there are more than just pylons and cables here, that the whole deal is fenced in or in some way not open to public access, and that the pylons run out of the compound across country.
It could be a substation, but I
wonder why they would put the
facility in a giant pit about
100 ft. deep. It is fenced all
around and I have only seen it
while negotiating the ramp from
SB Rte. 83 to EB I-90.
There is a spillway from a creek
that parallels the Tollway at that
point and the basin seems to be lined with sheeting to retain
liquid - so it must have something
to do with the water.
The power lines (VERY heavy lines) seem to enter from underground as
I have seen no above ground lines
leading away from the facility.
I wonder why they would put very
heavy duty electrical equipment
in a place that apparently sometimes fills with water?
No I am not writing poetry,
I have a Sony WebTV Classic
internet terminal, not a computer.
Apparently my input gets altered
between my terminal and the
message board server.
After I saw the first post I
went back and retyped it with appropriate margins, and the server still altered it back to what you see, and it does that
every time. So it’s not my
fault man.
BTW: since I see this is a nation-wide board the facility
in question is in Des Plaines,
Illinois just Northwest of O’hare
Airport outside of Chicago.
It’s possible (judging from your description) that this may be a pit intended to retain any spills or leakage of transformer oil. Many (if not all) of the transformers used in power transmission are oil-cooled, and the oil is (or at least used to be) PCB-laden, so there are obvious environmental concerns connected with leaks and spills, especially if the site is near a creek bed.
Another possibility: you say this is near an airport. Could they have built a power substation in a pit to avoid the danger of high-tension wires and transmission towers being too close to a flight path?
I have gotten by now lot of speculation; but can someone
analytical drive past and then figure out what this facility actually is, or can someone who really knows what it is explain
it (without killing me)?
In Des Plaines, Il take Elmhurst
Rd South from Oakton St, take
the “East I-90/Chicago” ramp -
you can’t miss it (don’t forget
to watch the road too).
