City plans to take bids for new underground cable

By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- If the price is right, city workers will have new underground cable to install.
Safety Director Donald K. Allen will accept bids for the cable, which will be installed by light department workers under a section of U.S. Route 422, near the Niles Park Plaza.
Council unanimously approved seeking the bids last week.
James Newbrough Jr., superintendent of the city's light department, said his workers are looking to replace about 500 feet of cable that runs from the main substation near the AAA Travel office to an underground vault just across the street.
The original cable -- which breaks off into four circuits at the vault to serve different areas of the city -- was installed more than 30 years ago, he said. The plan is to replace the aluminum wire with copper, he added.
Newbrough told council that the wire itself is still in good condition, but the protective coating that surrounds it is wearing away.
"The wire there lasted us more than 30 years," Newbrough said. "I can pretty much guarantee the new wire will last us at least another 30 years."
Initial estimates show that replacing just one circuit will cost about $25,000, Newbrough said. The city will save money on the project, though, because light department workers will install the new cable.