General Order 64-A

Section XI

Supply Lines And Communication Lines Crossings Over Railways

113.1    Prevention of Conductor Breakage and Burning of Supports.

A.    Splices and Taps.

Splices shall not and taps should not be made in the crossing span and preferably not in the adjacent spans which are depended upon withstanding the longitudinal stress of the crossing conductors.  If a splice or tap is made in any conductor in the span next to the crossing span it shall, where practicable, be placed at a point nearer to the crossing support than is the nearest conductor crossed over.  This rule is not intended to prohibit splices or taps on the free ends of lines which are dead-ended at the crossing supports.

The provisions of this rule shall not apply to conductor splices which are made by any of the accepted standard methods which have been proved by test before this Commission to be equal to or greater in strength than the conductor in which it is made.

B.    Supports.

Installing insulators and conductors precautions shall be taken to guard against the possibility of arcs or leakage current injuring conductors or burning any wood parts of the supporting structure which would render the conductors liable to fall.  It is recommended that where steel pins are used in conjunction with wood cross arms the pins be metallically bonded together but not grounded.  In cases where two or more circuits are carried on the same poles and wood cross arms are used, the insulator pins of the different circuits shall be bonded independently of each other.  The conductor used for bonding shall have a conductivity not less than No. 10 A.W.G. copper wire.