You're right about not thinking about seams; utilities are constantly pushed underground and out of sight (I'm in favor of this, too) by governing political bodies.
I was recently in a friendly debate with someone via blog who held out for Least Cost Utility model, which would mean piping, wiring, etc. above ground to minimize initial capital investment. (You can see this approach in some regions of mainland China, for example) Curiously, he firmly held that all water/sewer utilities should be undergrounded, even though it wasn't least cost. We had a friendly debate about cost (he lost, poor guy) for underground water/sewer and finally admitted he just wanted his water and sewer stuff out of sight but he liked his power above ground just fine; arbitrary, IMHO.
Here in OC, we can see cell phone transceiver stations that look somewhat like palm trees, for example, a sort of visual-undergrounding, if you will.
Hi Beverly,
You're right about not thinking about seams; utilities are constantly pushed underground and out of sight (I'm in favor of this, too) by governing political bodies.
I was recently in a friendly debate with someone via blog who held out for Least Cost Utility model, which would mean piping, wiring, etc. above ground to minimize initial capital investment. (You can see this approach in some regions of mainland China, for example) Curiously, he firmly held that all water/sewer utilities should be undergrounded, even though it wasn't least cost. We had a friendly debate about cost (he lost, poor guy) for underground water/sewer and finally admitted he just wanted his water and sewer stuff out of sight but he liked his power above ground just fine; arbitrary, IMHO.
Here in OC, we can see cell phone transceiver stations that look somewhat like palm trees, for example, a sort of visual-undergrounding, if you will.
Best/Tom
Posted by: Tom Herring | February 13, 2007 09:54 PM