A comparison of two practical approaches to preventing inter-span phase contacts during snow shedding on the same 110-kV overhead line

Field experiences in a few particular areas of Slovenia have shown that during periods of snowfall some overhead lines are randomly exposed to short-circuit events between conductors that lie in a vertical disposition. This paper presents two practical approaches to reducing the probability of these inter-span contacts that result from the snow shedding. Both approaches refer to the same overhead line, so that a direct comparison can be made. The first overhead-line circuit is equipped with phase spacers; the second one is equipped with V strings. Up to now, both approaches have served well in practice. In this paper a transmission line is presented, and the differences between the two approaches with regard to the design parameters are given. The advantages and disadvantages of both approaches are summarized.