L&T patents OPTACABLE© Software for power transmission lines

The Engineering Construction & Contracts (ECC) Division of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) has developed a software to calculate the length of conductors used in power transmission lines and has obtained a patent (copyright) for it from the Government of India.  This is the third copyright registered by ECC for automation and technology development for design and construction of transmission lines.
 
In transmission lines, the conductor strung between two towers takes the shape of a complex curve known as catenary curve.  As catenary equation is complex and the number of variables involved is too high to calculate the length and the current industry practice has been to assume a fixed percentage (1% to 2%) over horizontal length to calculate the length requirement and consumption.
 
In any transmission line project, conductor/earth wire constitutes 25% to 30% of the total material cost.  An error of even 0.5% to 1% in estimation of conductor length may lead to cost overrun on account of wastage, shortage and delay during construction activity.
 
In order to facilitate accurate calculation of conductor length, Engineering Design & Research Centre (EDRC) of ECC has developed this software -- the only software of its kind and utility available for the transmission line industry anywhere in the world.
 
Dr. K. Natarajan (Head - Transmission Lines, EDRC, ECC) and his team of engineers at ECC-Chennai have developed the software.  OPTCABLE offers the following advantages:
 
•   Fast and accurate solver for catenary curve with elevation difference
•   Import option for automatic entry of tower schedule
•   In-built logic for section length and ruling span calculation
•   Single entry calculation of conductor length at different temperatures
•   Option for customization of reports
•   Unequal elevation sag and tension value display
 
 
Currently L&T is employing OPTACABLE for transmission line projects of several state utilities. 
 
The other two software copyrighted earlier by L&T for use in transmission line construction include: DIGISHOP, which facilitates converting shop drawings issued by clients into a format compatible with the Company’s standard format; and DETAIL AUTOMATE, which is used in generating general arrangement (GA) drawings, shop drawings and bill of materials from the design line diagram.