Seeking A "Know-It-All" To Answer This Question...

[arwalden]

From time to time I'll see these HUGE orange spheres attached to high voltage power lines. Do they serve any purpose or is it just for decoration?

-- Allen

[Scout]

1. So planes, cranes and utility workers can see them?

[mn9driver]

3. Yup. Usually see 'em near airports, seaplane bases, across

canyons, gorges, etc. that might tempt a pilot. They're fun to fly under.}(

[lovedems]

4. That is kind of what I thought, they are by our Airport. I also thought

(since they look rubbery) that they might act to stop a power surge by absorbtion.

I am by no means a know it all, so these are just guesses!

[Maddy McCall]

2. LOL!

Great question. :-)

[Don Claybrook]

5. Not a know-it-all, but can I guess?

I always had a suspicion that they were to weight-down the wires in order to keep wind from blowing them around and damagaing or breaking them. They're usually on a really long, long run of wire, a great distance from pole to pole.

Or maybe it's the powerful Washington Orange Ball Lobby. You may not have heard of them; they're very secretive.

[Dookus]

6. they're alien

space ships, stealing our electricity. Bastards!

[htuttle]

7. (As Cliff sits down at the bar....)

They are to scare away birds such as storks and raptors away from the power lines. Otherwise, they find them hard to see, and run into them.

Here's a link:
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/wildlifeprotection/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.viewArticle&articleID=90

[arwalden]

12. Thank ya there Cliffie!

They have lots of those in FLORIDA ya know.

-- Allen

[lovedems]

13. Yes, thanks! Now whenever my kids ask me what they are

I can give them the REAL answer!

They will be forever grateful.

[mn9driver]

14. But then shouldn't they be called "Avian" instead of "Aviation" balls?

[Submariner]

8. Visual ques for migrating birds

Many times you'll see the orange balls on powerlines in valleys and chasm crossings. These areas have been identified as flyway migratory routes for birds that would otherwise strike the wires and injure or kill themselves.

I used to watch the foxes in the Tanana valley (Tok, AK) go out at dawn and pick up the dead birds for breakfast that had struck the Tok LORAN tower guide-wires during the previous night.

[radwriter0555]

9. Ayup. They are there to keep high cranes and low planes

from going ZZZZZTTTT.

[VOX]

10. Safety...

The link below is from a Florida newspaper, so they've got these things all over...

http://www.sptimes.com/2003/08/26/Hernando/Airport_wants_power_l.shtml

"Power lines close to airport runways are a hazard waiting to entrap helicopters or troubled low-flying planes, said several airport tenants who have asked the airport to illuminate the lines with the giant orange reflective balls."

[arcane1]

11. so kids know where to throw their shoes?

:silly:

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

15. Can't be, I have never seen one in Brooklyn, yet

our wires are filled with shoes.

[CanuckAmok]

16. No, they are "Extreme Tetherball" courts. n/t