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
| Jul 15, 2014
A look into the history of modular construction
Modular construction is more than a century old, and throughout its lifespan, the methods have been readapted to meet specific needs of different eras.
| Jul 15, 2014
AECOM to buy URS Corporation in $6 billion deal
Together, the firms will form a massive global giant with more than $19 billion in revenue and 95,000 employees in 150 countries.
| Jul 14, 2014
Meet the bamboo-tent hotel that can grow
Beijing-based design cooperative Penda designed a bamboo hotel that can easily expand vertically or horizontally.
| Jul 14, 2014
Foster + Partners unveils triple-glazed tower for RMK headquarters
The London-based firm unveiled plans for the Russian Copper Company's headquarters in Yekaterinburg.
| Jul 14, 2014
Toyota selects developer for its new North American headquarters in Plano, Texas
Toyota announced that it has selected Dallas-based KDC Real Estate Development & Investments to develop its new North American headquarters campus in the Legacy West development in Plano, Texas.
| Jul 13, 2014
Punishing deadline can’t derail this prison health facility [2014 Building Team Awards]
A massive scope, tough schedule, and technical complexity fail to daunt the Building Team for a huge California correctional project.
| Jul 11, 2014
First look: Jeanne Gang reinterprets San Francisco Bay windows in new skyscraper scheme
Chicago architect Jeanne Gang has designed a 40-story residential building in San Francisco that is inspired by the city's omnipresent bay windows.
| Jul 11, 2014
Are these LEGO-like blocks the future of construction?
Kite Bricks proposes a more efficient way of building with its newly developed Smart Bricks system.
| Jul 10, 2014
BioSkin 'vertical sprinkler' named top technical innovation in high-rise design
BioSkin, a system of water-filled ceramic pipes that cools the exterior surface of buildings and their surrounding micro-climates, has won the 2014 Tall Building Innovation Award from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jul 10, 2014
Unique design of Toronto's townhome The Tree House
Plans for a new Toronto townhome brings cutting-edge design.