Power Station Cable Bundle Inspection

Constellation Clearsight completed an inspection at a power station in Virginia to determine the condition of three cable bundles attached to their turbine building.

The primary objective was to assess the following components: cable insulation to identify signs of cracking, spacers to ensure cables are adequately separated, kellem grips to verify that cables are positioned properly, and cable jackets to identify signs of cracking and blistering.

These cable bundles are difficult to assess from the ground, meaning that inspecting them requires the use of scaffolding, cranes, bucket trucks, telescopes, and binoculars. Not only do these factors introduce significant industrial safety risks, but they also add cost and increase the time required to perform the inspection.

By using two different drones, we were able to nearly eliminate the industrial safety risks and significantly reduce costs. Our drones flew in close proximity to the bundles and relied on our optically zooming cameras to capture high-resolution imagery of the components. Not only did we provide our customer with key insights while inspecting the bundles, but we also provided footage of the accompanying infrastructure on the sides and top of the turbine building. This data can be used for future inspection evolutions.