On February 22, 2005 a truck struck and severely damaged one of Alpha’s powernodes in Anderson, Indiana. It was a cold, windy night and the utility service was experiencing an array of transients requiring constant conditioning of the power.
The truck rammed the powernode installation and knocked the enclosure clean off the pad. The equipment tray was bent, the inside of the enclosure was dented from the two power supplies and the internal temperature of the enclosure increased as a result of the accident. The pad shear sensor was damaged which made it impossible for the power supplies to transmit to the Network Operation Center (NOC) and to notify the operator that the powernode had been hit.
Since the powernode was unable to communicate with the NOC, it sat damaged for nine days. Amazingly, the Alpha equipment continued to function and was able to provide service despite the bends, dents and being knocked off its pedestal. A point of concern was the cables, due to the fact that they were stretched and exposed to the elements for a prolonged period of time. Cable resistance was increasing and therefore the power consumption was growing. During this time the power supplies were continually cleaning sags being sent down the line.
Nine days after the truck struck the powernode, Jody Iddings from Alpha drove by and saw what had happened. At this point Jody called the service provider and orchestrated repairs for the system. Jody was able to restore power and rebuild the installation site without disrupting service. The powernode included an AlphaGen generator, which enabled Jody to hook up a propane tank to feed the unit power while cutting and rewiring the input power lines. During this time the service provider team constructed a temporary power plant using the generator to feed power to the power supply. They also removed and replaced the batteries and both XM2s. All the components survived the crash and passed the test so they could be reused. It took about five hours to repair and rebuild the entire location.
This is a true testament to the reliability and ruggedness of Alpha’s enclosures and equipment. Congratulations to Alpha Technologies Services for quickly, safely and efficiently restoring this installation to its original condition.
