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PHOTO BY MARVIN SMILES

Sunday 15th June, 05:54 AM JST

Workmen install more power lines in Akasaka.

Latest 15 of 27 Total Comments Show All

Coligny at 04:27 PM JST - 15th June

Sarcasm123... overhead wire are much more vulnerable, (wind, traffic accident, quake, easy sabotage, lightning.) it's just cheaper, so people rationalize it with the usual "it's japan so it's for the quakes" which is beyond ridiculous. In my little harbor town here, they are burrying everything. The town was pretty even without lowering your standards because it's a japanese town. But now it's getting quite gorgeous.
sarcasm123 at 05:05 PM JST - 15th June

I didn't see the sewer system blow crap everywhere after the earthquake yesterday and they don't run pipes above our heads.

How thick is the sewer? How much can it be stretched before the connection is broken? Repeat the same questions for an electric wire.
romulus3 at 05:09 PM JST - 15th June

Old buddy, I would tend to imagine that electrical cables are much more flexible than sewers systems.
VOR at 06:17 PM JST - 15th June

utilities are run above ground because its cheaper. There is no merit to the claim that utilities are more vulnerable underground.
Alphaape at 07:51 PM JST - 15th June

With power lines, if for some reason more powerful lines need to be added, it is easier if they are above ground. Also, if a line breaks, you can pretty much tell where the brake occurs visually. If they are underground, unlike a sewage line when it breaks with a tell tell sign of water seepage or smell you can easily pinpoint the area. With power lines and breaking, it is hard to determine exactly where the line broke without eather pulling the cables or digging up the area if there is not an underground access point nearby.
Pukey2 at 08:44 PM JST - 15th June

sarcasm123: Do you always have to argue on this board just for the sake of it? It wouldn't be so bad if you were right half the times.
Wottock_Hunt at 09:19 PM JST - 15th June

Sarx - again with the "this is the way it is done here, so it's the way it should be done".

Just think for a moment about your earthquake argument. When the big one hits, the power's going out. No maybe, it's going out.

So, without power, you have the question of getting emergency vehicles to where they're needed.

Buried powerlines = a road.

Suspended powerlines = fallen telegraph poles = a blocked road = unnecessary death. Now who do you think will make up the vast majority of those dead people?
mark901 at 09:47 PM JST - 15th June

This has been discussed in the media and in so many books about Japan. Power lines are above ground in this country because it's cheaper that way and for no other reason. In an earthquake (particularly as well demonstrated in the Great Hanshin earthquake) fallen power lines prevented easy access for emergency vehicles and more than on person was electrocuted from live broken dangling wires. Overhead lines are never a good idea - both for practical, safety and aesthetic reasons. Look at cities in developing countries like Manila or Jakarta - festooned with wires. They'd love to bury their wires if they could afford to. In Japan power lines remain above ground because of lack of will on the part of the authorities and ordinary people here know no different.
Sarge at 09:50 PM JST - 15th June
"Utilities are run above ground because it's cheaper"
- VOR
And that's why we're going to see these ugly utility lines on the streets for the rest of our lives, probably.
sarcasm123 at 12:41 PM JST - 16th June

"Old buddy, I would tend to imagine that electrical cables are much more flexible than sewers systems."

Come on mate. If they would have been under the ground every single earthquake would result in hundreds of places having to be digged up repaired and put under the ground again.

"In an earthquake (particularly as well demonstrated in the Great Hanshin earthquake) fallen power lines prevented easy access for emergency vehicles and more than on person was electrocuted from live broken dangling wires."

True. But how often do earthquakes like that happen? How often do small ones happen? It is a choice between having to dig them up every 2 weeks vs having to be careful every 100 years.
Wottock_Hunt at 05:41 PM JST - 16th June

Because the idea of digging streets up is so appalling? That's why the ashphalt gets ripped to pieces all over town all the bleeding time, so three blokes with sticks can guide us round the holes.

While the hole's there, stick the bleeding cables in it.
sarcasm123 at 10:48 AM JST - 17th June

"That's why the ashphalt gets ripped to pieces all over town all the bleeding time, so three blokes with sticks can guide us round the holes."

See, already complaining now. Imagin what would happen if they were actually digging them up now! More whining?
Wottock_Hunt at 11:35 PM JST - 17th June

Er, no. Because then they would be ripping up the ashphalt for a purpose (to fix power lines), and my tax money would be at work for the betterment of the city I live in, rather than being burnt up in futility.

I don't need four blokes to guide me around a hole that a) I can see, and b) didn't need digging.

I wouldn't, however, mind paying for the holes' being dug if it were to enhance c) what I have to see every day and thus my quality of life, and d)chances of survival when the Big One strikes.

The holes are being dug. The cables should be put in them. There would be work for thousands, and a better quality of life for all. Now you tell me why uglier and more dangerous is better.

Or just point out that you can read japanese, your standard modus operandi when you have no valid point.
Wottock_Hunt at 11:37 PM JST - 17th June

And, before you stoop to it, don't talk sewage about three blokes becoming four. I walked through Shinbashi tonight. Four blokes. One hole. Eff all work being done.
sarcasm123 at 01:12 PM JST - 18th June

Spin and twist all you want, Wottock. If you put the cables underground you would have 4 blokes standing around every 10 meters on every road in nord honshu at this moment.