According to a April 2009 report "Electric Power Transmission: Background and Policy Issues" by the Congressional Research Service, "transmission investment has continued to grow since 2004, reaching a 30 year high of $6.5 billion (constant 2000 dollars) in 2007. The industry is continuing to grow even in today's' economy to meet the US power demands. A larger percentage of this infrastructure is being placed underground than ever before to satisfy political will and regulatory requirements. Trenchless construction is a key component to many of these new underground builds. However, these large cables generate significant amounts of heat. If the heat cannot be dissipated in the ground then the cables fail, fail prematurely, or cannot provide the design power thus reducing the return on investment. This relatively new surge in trenchless construction of power transmission cables has resulted in many failures because of poor engineering or a lack of understanding of construction capabilities. These failures have cost owners significant amounts of money and delayed project completions resulting in penalties to Contractors and Owners. This paper provides some of the myths that have been uncovered during design and remediation of many trenchless installations throughout North America, the results of those myths on the construction and performance of the system, and provides suggested solutions.
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