Recent investigations of transmission-line operation

G. H. Doan: The top wire of our 120-kv. lines is very much more susceptible to flashover and damage than any of the others. We had concrete evidence of that last year when a lightning stroke hit directly on a radio tower which was very close to the high-voltage lines. A klydonograph about a quarter of a mile away showed that there was about 5 times normal potential on the top wire, 3.3 on the middle, and 2.7 on the bottom. That, however, did not cause flashover, and did not, of course, cause opening of the oil circuit breaker.