Although many of the world’s major transmission systems were built in the 1960s and 70s during periods of high load growth, transmission lines built in the early years of the last century are still in service.

The industry continued to experience relatively high growth rates during the 1980s and expanded transmission facilities year after year. It was often more economical to replace a deteriorated plant by adding capacity to the new, higher-voltage, more efficient systems being built (taking advantage of economies of scale), than it was to refurbish the deteriorated plant.

The objective of the Transmission Line Asset Management Interest Group (TLAMIG) is to bring together interested parties to exchange information on asset management methods and techniques and to facilitate research that will optimize the management of transmission line system assets (overhead). A key thrust will be to extend the life of existing assets or to implement sufficient upgrades to them, and thus defer or eliminate the need for major capital expenditures for new transmission systems.

Topics and Issues:
• Implementation of an Asset Management Guide
• Assessment of the current condition and reliability of lines and prediction of the remaining life of components
• Assessment of available technologies and practices
• Methodology for risk assessment and decision analysis to undertake a reinforcement or a refurbishment and life-extension program
• Methodology and products to develop optimum use of existing lines
• Methodology and products for the optimization of line maintenance
• Means of controlling or mitigating environmental constraints and disasters