Seattle City Light says it’s working on plans to tamper-proof the West Seattle bridges’ electrical system, after the latest round of dark lights on both the high and low bridges, blamed on theft and tampering. City Light provided an update late today on the latest trouble. And spokesperson Jenn Strang says it’s not just lights:
We estimate approximately 71 streetlights of the more than 200 lights on the high-rise sections of the [high bridge] and approximately 15 streetlights on the [low] bridge east approach are affected. When crews investigated, they found that there were additional components including a streetlight cabinet and handholes that required repair.
Strang says crews first noticed the low-bridge lights out in early August. After research and mapping, they’re trying to restore the lighting, she added, but: “Because the damage is so extensive, we are discovering additional issues as we work to assess and fix. Further work is needed to make additional repairs and ensure the future tamper proofing of the system. This will likely include civil work and permitting to move forward.”
Some of the tamperproofing is fairly simple: “Temporary ecology block(s) are proposed to be placed in front of the electrical cabinet on the north side of S Spokane St to prevent entry and unauthorized tampering.” After that, it gets more complicated, both in terms of more complicated work, and figuring out how to deal with locations where criminals have plenty of privacy: “We have been actively securing our facilities wherever possible. However, certain areas continue to experience higher levels of streetlight wire theft and vandalism, particularly locations with lower public traffic where perpetrators have greater seclusion. As we discover these vulnerabilities, we’re adapting and developing preventative solutions.”
The utility also is trying to step up its game in getting a sense of how serious the wire theft problem is; Strang says SCL has “recently established an internal process to help us to better track when wire theft is the cause.”
Meantime, if you see suspicious activity near poles or other electrical installations, call 911. Strang suggests four ways to know if they are City Light employees:
-City Light employees will always be wearing hardhats and vests or jackets with the City Light logo.
-If asked, they will show their ID badges.
-They drive City Light vehicles, often the large yellow trucks.
-Line crews always work in teams. One exception is that an engineer may inspect a site alone, but only during regular business hours.
City Light has been dealing with bridge-light trouble for more than a decade, our archives indicate, including under-the-bridge light trouble blamed on thieves (here’s our 2020 report on that).
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