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&A will close on Monday, March 2nd
Please email jalexander@ouc.com with any event spec-related questions; after conferring with the appropriate Chief Judge, a response will be emailed to the inquirer and posted below.
Q - Will you be gigged for hanging your hand line and pulling up your fuses/jack jumper before covering the neutral?
A - No, but you will be gigged for incidental contact of the uncovered neutral.
Q - Does the cover on the neutral need to be removed after we send the grunt bag with the old doors down or can we uncover first and then send the grunt bag down?
A - Work cannot be done without neutral covered, and contact shall be avoided on the uncovered neutral conductor. Incidental contact will be a gig.
Q - Do both sticks of rubber have to be utilized?A - As stated in Event Specification No. 4, the neutral shall be covered on both sides of the spool. Therefore, both supplied covers must be used.
Q - Can we leave the jack jumper on the shotgun stick and leave it in the bag and climb back up and get it once the event is over?
A - No
Hastings is sponsoring the tools for this event, there has been a change to the supplied cover that will be hanging from the neutral in the bag.
Attached are photos from the Hastings catalog for reference: one shows the new cover, and the other shows the catalog line item with specifications.
A 6 ft hastings shotgun with internal rod and universal end will be provided.
Competitors will supply their own handline, bag for doors and jack jumper, and jumping jack.
Q - Are we allowed to rig off the pig ear?
A - No you can't work off of material.
Q - Can the down guy be broke loose at the ground before ascending the pole?
A – No it can not be broke loose at the ground.
Q: Are you able to provide a picture of the style rams head that wold be used for guy link stick on the pole.
Q - During the single phase transfer, is the insulator considered one point of control so that you may untie one side of the tire wire with only 1 wire tong on?
A - The insulator may only be considered 1 point of control if one of the following applies; 1 side of the insulator is completely tied in OR a there are combination of 6 wraps between the 2 sides of the tie.
Q - Can you please clarify if we are supposed to actually move the wire with blocks or handline or do you mean secure in insulator with them while the wire is being tied and untied on insulator?
A - Phase must be moved utilizing 2 saddles and wire tongs. A handline or set of blocks must be utilized to lift the conductor from the insulator.
Q - What is the overall length of the pole top pins being used?
A - The pole top pin is Maclean J744Z Insulator is PPC Insulators 366-S
Q - How long will the coil of aluminum tie wire be?
A - Reels of #4 aluminum tie wire will be provided at each location for the team to cut their preferred length of tie wire from “AFTER” time starts.
Q - Is the 1/0 primary going to have armor rods on it for the tie, or is it going to be 1/0 bare?
A - Bare conductor no armor rods.
Q- Can any hardware be transferred or are we required to use the new material?
A - The new material that is on the ground at the start of the event must be installed on the pole the wire is being transferred to. The material that is on the pole at the start of the event, must be removed and be sent to the ground. Old material must be disassembled including tie wires before time stops for the event.
Q - Where will teams get their tie wire?
A- There will be a spool of tie wire at each event pole. The teams will be allowed to cut tie wires to length before prep time however they will not be allowed to form the tie wires during the prep time.
Q -How many wraps must there be on the primary insulator?
A - Teams must have 6 wraps on each side of the primary insulator and the eyes must be above the conductor
Q -What tie is used on the neutral spool?
A - The 2-cross 2-3-2 tie. Neutral tie will be the Side Tie that can be found on Page 460 in the 14th Edition of the Lineman’s and Cableman’s handbook. See below.
Q – Is the spec correct on the Push Brace bolt sizes?
A – That is a misprint, bolts will be as follows:
-1/2” x 6” for brace to arm mounting bolts with washers
-5/8” x pole size for brace to pole bolt washer
If a baker board is utilized there must be an I-key on the chain binder and installed while in use. The binder will be inspected at check-in to the event, and if one is not present the board cannot be used. If the I-key isn’t installed during the event, and the Lineman puts one foot on the board the Judge will inform the competitors to install the key, and it will be a 10-point deduction.
Q - Is there anyway we can see an image of the dead end bells that will be used in the event.
Q - For the triple threat do all pins and cotter keys have to be the same direction on just the bells, or the bells and dead end too?
A - The pins and cotter keys all need to be facing the same way on the bells and the dead end shoe after they have been changed out.
Q - Does the pole have to be covered when a Lineman is changing bells out on baker board?
A - The pole doesn't need to be covered but your rigging does if any part of it becomes energized to where it doesn't allow your MAD to be maintained.
Q - On the triple threat event, can one lineman tie and untie the 4kv or do both lineman need to participate in order to have 2 points of control on the wire while tying and untying?
A - Both Lineman are required to untie and tie in to maintain positive control of the 4 kV energized conductor.
Q - Can we get a picture of the deadend shoe being used?
