Downtown conduit

AEL&P protects downtown utilities with improved conduits

Throughout most of the '90s, contractors for Alaska Electric Light & Power have spent the better part of each spring digging up the old hollow-core sidewalk which protects utility conductors in the downtown area. This underground utility distribution system -- a series of switches, fuses and cables -- has been energizing downtown businesses and residences since the 1970s.

Today, with the old protective system way past its prime, workers have managed to replace much of it with a new conduit system. This protective pipeline not only better protects the utility conductors beneath Juneau's streets, but it can also house additional cables which may be added in the future. With the project wrapping up the summer of 2000, downtown residents can take heart in knowing that the underground cabling that carries electricity, telecommunications and television signals to their part of Juneau is now better protected from the gradual -- but undeniable -- onslaught of mother nature.