APPALACHIAN POWER'S ROANOKE UNDERGROUND NETWORK UPGRADE

As part of a $19 million upgrade of the aging underground electrical network in downtown Roanoke, VA, Carolina Conduit Systems buried a 20 feet by 10 feet by 12 feet high precast concrete electrical vault beneath First Street, within view of Appalachian Power’s office at the corner of First Street and Franklin Road. The new vault, fabricated at CP&P’s Salem facility, is one component of Appalachian Power’s network of over 270 buried manholes and over 50 transformer vaults in its downtown Roanoke system.
Concerns about safety and reliability are driving many power companies across the country to upgrade their networks, many of which installed several decades ago. Appalachian Power’s downtown Roanoke network was originally built in the 1950s and has experienced its own incidents over the years including a fire, May 1999, reported to be “shooting as wide as the street and a story high.” By installing precast concrete vaults, Appalachia Power is providing the most durable infrastructure available for downtown Roanoke.
Concrete Pipe & Precast manufactures precast concrete vaults in an array of standard and custom sizes from less than 2 feet x 2 feet inside, up to the 20 feet x 10 feet fabricated for Appalachia Power, and even larger. Shipping and delivery restrictions are essentially the only limitations to size and availability.