Question NW241 to the Minister of Public Enterprises
19 August 2019 - NW241
Waters, Mr M to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
(a)How often does Eskom inspect electricity pylon; (b) What number of inspectors does Eskom currently have; (c) What number of pylons are there in the Republic and (d) What preventative maintenance is being done on the power lines and pylons?
Reply:
According to the information received from Eskom
(a) The frequency of inspections of pylons varies between 3 monthly to 10 yearly, depending on the categorisation of the infrastructure.
(b) Eskom currently has 7281 inspectors.
(c) Eskom has a total of 11 599 773 pylons across the country.
(d) Eskom conducts extensive condition monitoring time based maintenance on pylons, and powerlines according to prescribed maintenance standards. Preventative maintenance includes:
- Vegetation management - monitor vegetation under or near the powerlines to ensure that safety clearances are not compromised.
- Visual aerial inspections and ground patrol - determine the physical integrity of towers, stays, foundations, insulators, conductors, shield wires and fibre optic system.