Application
Overhead ground wire, shieldwire protecting transmission lines against lightning damage.

Construction
Alumo-clad steel wire and strandis used by power utilities as well as formed wire and opticalground wire manufacturers. Alumo-clad steel wire outlasts otheroptions by as much as 200% in corrosive environments, significantlylowering maintenance and replacement costs. When compared to solidaluminum wire, aluminum clad steel wire offers tremendoussavings.

Alumo-clad steel wire overhead ground wire has excellent corrosionresistance. Its strength and conductivity remain unchanged in anyatmosphere where aluminum is satisfactory, especially those knownto be corrosive from industrial or atmospheric conditions.

This assurance against corrosion is obtained through theapplication of a thick covering of pure aluminum which provides asubstantial barrier of protective metal. The minimum claddingthickness of Alumo-clad steel wire is 10% of the radius of thewire. the cladding has a continuous, strong metallic bond to thesteel core that will not crack or flake.

Alumo-clad steel wire also provides strength greater than or equalto other overhead ground wires. For commonly used wire sizes, thetensile strength of the individual wire can approach 200,000 poundsper square inch. When used in a strand for overhead ground wire,this high strength permits greater span lengths, less sag andheavier loads under storm loading conditions.

Directly related to strength and sag performance is the lighterweight of aluminum clad steel wire. Due to its thick cladding ofaluminum, Alumo-clad steel wire is 15% lighter that a steel strandof equivalent size. This lighter weight, combined with highstrength, permits aluminum clad steel wire to be installed to thesame sags as steel with correspondingly lower tensions and towerstresses on the towers or supporting structures.