| Show ALUMINUM A FAILURE butte mont nov 24 94 the aluminum madison river power line which was installed sixteen years ago as an experiment has been officially adjudged a faili failure lre and the aluminium alu is being replaced with copper wire this power line of the montana tana power company is about sixty miles long stretching from the madison river canyon to butte the canyon is famous among other things as the hunting ground of W E corey and hi his associates in the U S steel not so many years ago the prediction was made that if copper should ever reach 30 cents aluminum would replace its use in many cases many prominent engineers engineer as well as persons connected with the copper mining industry feared this and when the european war sent the price of copper upward this bugaboo again raised its head but now that it is pronounced too soft for practicability and serviceability for transmission wires the specter is laid according to F al kerr manager of the montana power company aluminum has not stood the test is too soft and after sixteen years of service it is being stripped from the poles of the A madison ladison river power line and replaced with copper at the time the aluminum was installed it was twice as costly as copper but weighed only half as much the madison power line cost the most of any in the united states both per unit mile and in its entirety |
