Lightning Alley is not just a catchy name for a street or the local bowling lanes. It's the name dubbed to a notorious region in central Florida that is in the heart of the most lightning-prone area in the entire country. And that lightning strike may come at the most inopportune time.
Not only can this force of nature cause bodily injury and severe damage to property, it also has the power to disrupt or destroy a police department's 9-1-1 communications system, which is intended to assist residents during an emergency. That's exactly what happened in the middle of one Florida storm.
When a Walmart in the city of Bushnell was relocated, the facility was donated to the county for their use. The Sumter County Sheriff's Department decided to open its new offices in this building, including housing its emergency communications there.
One serious problem was that the electrical system was built for a 1970's vintage department store, not a critical communications and public safety facility. During one lightning storm in particular, the 9-1-1 system failed, leaving county residents without police, fire or ambulance response.
Inspection of the existing electrical system showed that it was badly flawed, mainly due to improper connectors and poor bonding and grounding. The communications tower, for example, had its own independent and inadequate grounding. The emergency generators and building structure were all independently grounded, each with its own ground rod, exposing its poor design. The main grounding electrode consisted of a single galvanized steel rod from the 1970s, with very high resistance to earth.
A new system was designed and installed for under $40,000, a minimal cost considering the value of the equipment protected, and improved public safety it brought to the residents of Sumter County.
"To be effective, the entire grounding system needs to be properly designed, using listed connectors and corrosion resistant materials," said Dave Brender, National Program Manager for the Copper Development Association, CDA. "Lightning protection systems in particular must be well-grounded to work properly, and could make matters worse if they are not. Copper and its alloys are the most common materials in use for this application because they provide superior corrosion resistance and avoid oxidation problems at connections.
Copper is also easy to install and durable," Brender added.
Central Florida is not the only region in the U.S. affected by severe weather. Similar 9-1-1 and broadcast facilities are employed in areas all over the country where communications is critical and the chances for lightning strikes are quite high. Having proper copper-based grounding and bonding should be a top priority where an entire system can get crippled by lightning.
Related Stories
| Aug 27, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin school of architecture faces accreditation loss
The Frank Lloyd School of Architecture may be stripped of its ability to confer Master of Architects students based on a revised by-law of the Higher Learning Commission.
| Aug 27, 2014
Survey of NCAA athletic directors reveals strong demand for new facilities, fan amenities
More than 80% of college athletic directors plan to make significant investments in facilities over the next five years to target potential recruits and spectators, according to a new survey by AECOM and Ohio University.
| Aug 26, 2014
6 lessons from a true IPD project: George Washington University Hospital
In its latest blog post, Skanska shares tips and takeaways from the firm's second true integrated project delivery project.
| Aug 26, 2014
Ranked: Top industrial sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, Jacobs, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest industrial sector design and construction firms, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 26, 2014
High-rise concept uses 'sky street' to link towers [slideshow]
The design for a new complex in Shenzhen’s bay area consists of highly reflective glass towers, expansive garden space, and a horizontal glass structure that connects the buildings.
| Aug 25, 2014
Restoration of quake-ravaged Atascadero City Hall affirms city’s strength [2014 Reconstruction Awards]
The landmark city hall was severely damaged by the San Simeon earthquake in 2003. Reconstruction renewed the building’s stability, restored its exterior, and improved the functionality of the interior.
| Aug 25, 2014
Ranked: Top cultural facility sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Arup, Gensler, and Turner head BD+C's rankings of design and construction firms with the most revenue from cultural facility projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 25, 2014
Tall wood buildings: Surveying the early innovators
Timber has been largely abandoned as a structural solution in taller buildings during the last century, in favor of concrete and steel. Perkins+Will's Rebecca Holt writes about the firm's work in surveying the burgeoning tall wood buildings sector.
| Aug 25, 2014
'Vanity space' makes up large percentage of world's tallest buildings [infographic]
Large portions of some skyscrapers are useless space used to artificially enhance their height, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Aug 25, 2014
Photographer creates time-lapse video of 1 WTC using 30,000 photos
Choosing from 30,000 photos he took from the day construction began in 2006 to the day when construction was finished in 2012, Brooklyn-based photographer Benjamin Rosamund compressed 1,100 photos to create the two-minute video.