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Small insight on the Paris metro system. All systems run on 700V @ up to 5000A (yes, 5000). There are substations scattered around Paris that do the required st
by kweks 11y ago
Small insight on the Paris metro system.
All systems run on 700V @ up to 5000A (yes, 5000).
There are substations scattered around Paris that do the required step up / down for their respective lines (Poste de redressement, or 'PRs' for short)
All of these PRs are supplied from ONE major PR. There is one tunnel, reasonably deep (~30 - 40m down) that carries 14 HT cables - one for every line.
Cutting these lines by any means could literally grind the entire metro system to a halt. That coupled with the fact that all water systems (3 main distribution points in Paris, North, South and East) are distributed through the sewers, the trunk lines are easily accessed and cut.
Last remaining one is power, which again - runs in trunk tunnels, all easily accessible.
You could effectively bring Paris to a grinding halt in an afternoon with some basic tools.
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoIf you try to cut cables carrying 700V x 5000A with "some basic tools", you're more likely to permanently disable yourself than you are to temporarily disable Paris...
- semi-extrinsic 11y agoDoes thermite count as a basic tool?
- mjevans 11y agoNo, but I'd argue it's only slightly above basic tools, and from Mythbusters episodes have seen that it can be HIGHLY effective.
- kweks 11y agoDepends what your goal is. If you're wanting to steal the copper, perhaps, but if your goal is that the continuity is interrupted, there's a variety of ways to achieve this, the most simple of which probably being fire.
- Gracana 11y agoYou just need bolt cutters to get through a fence, then rope and wire.. Throw rope over a conductor and use it to haul wire up to start an enormous arc. Or tip a ladder onto it, or something.
- Gud 11y agoA method that works is fixing a saw to something that would insulate you from the arc(like a broom handle) and just cut the cable. This is basically the oldest safety trick in the book when it comes to jointing power cables.
- briandear 11y agoYou could also just threaten to cut the transportation workers pensions by €0.37 per year and that would result in a strike thus shutting down the city. Or just announce that Air France executives will be holding a meeting or that we're going to increase Polish vegetable imports. Pretty much anything could be used to shut down Paris (and France.) If you piss off the mailman, you can achieve road closures with burning piles of donkey poo blocking the intersections. No need to mess with cutting power. The unions will take care of that for you. Just some clever social media posts and The French Left will take over from there.