Catenary Curves

The catenary is the shape that a free hanging flexible cable or wire assumes. The following
gives equations for the case where the wire is of uniform mass per unit length, and the
supporting points are at the same height. Cases where the ends are not at the same height,
or where there are point loads (i.e. dipole antennas supported at ends with a feed line
hanging in the middle), can also be calculated, but these equations won't do it. The picture
below defines some terminology and the reference points.

We assume that the origin is at the center of the span.

Total span = L
Sag in the cable = h

So, the coordinates of the endpoints are (+/- L/2,h).

The weight per unit length = w
Total length of wire/cable = S
Length along the cable from the origin = s
Fh is the horizontal force component everywhere, and is equal to half the tension at
the center.

Maximum Tension
Since the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) minimum vertical clearance between
conductors at supports and between the conductors and ground are a function of the sag of
the conductors, some utilities might choose to reduce the sag by installing their aerial
conductors at the highest tension for which they are allowed without exceeding the NESC
limits. By limiting the conductor sags, the structure heights can be reduced and/or the
spans can be increased, both of which reduce the cost of construction. What is the
maximum tension? The NESC in Rule 261H, page 179, limits the tension of open supply
conductors and overhead shield wires to 60 percent of the rated breaking strength (RBS)
under the loading conditions specifi ed in Rule 250B, Table 250-1. For example, in the Heavy
Loading District, the 60 percent limit is with the conductor at 0F, with one half inch of radial

ice and a 4 Lb./Sq. Ft. wind (about 40-mph wind). The same rule also limits the initial
unloaded tension at 60F to 35 percent of the RBS and the fi nal unloaded tension at 60F
to 25 percent of the RBS.

Safety Factor

Table 1
Since the NESC requirements are maximums, it is important to use some safety factor in
the design to insure that the design tensions do not violate the NESC requirements. To do
this, most utilities install their conductors at less tension than the NESC maximums. One
approach might be to limit the tensions to 90 percent of that allowed by the NESC. The
resulting sag/tension computer program printout might then look like the following for a 200
foot span of 477 AAC COSMOS conductor in the NESC heavy loading district (see table 1).
Note that the maximum tension is 4514 lb. The stringing sags and tensions are the initial
sags and tensions at 30, 60, 90, and 120F. The crew installing the conductor usually
extrapolates between the four temperatures to determine the stringing sag/tension
corresponding to the actual conductor temperature at time of tensioning. The maximum sag
is 5.31 feet, the final sag at the conductors maximum operating temperature. In this
example, the utility has chosen 212F as the maximum operating temperature. For further
information on conductor maximum operating temperatures, see my article on Conductor

Ampacity in the March/April 2004 IAEI News and my article Conductor Hyperthermia in
the July/August 2002 IAEI News. Depending upon the construction standard that a utility
uses for dead-ending conductors, there might be further limitations on the conductor
tension based upon the rated strength of the dead-end hardware and anchoring system. In
areas where the soil strength is low for example due to moisture or sand, keeping the
conductor tensions lower improves reliability because it makes the anchoring system
strength less critical. Is a 10 percent safety factor enough to insure that the NESC
maximum tensions are not exceeded under all conditions? To answer this question, we have
to look at what conditions effect conductor tension.
Ruling Span
Limiting the tensions to 90 percent of that allowed by the NESC might be fine if all the span
lengths between dead-ends of a proposed line are the same. For transmission lines being
constructed across open land for great distances, keeping the span lengths the same is
usually achievable. However, for most distribution line construction along highways and rear
lot lines, keeping the span lengths the same can be difficult. In states where utilities have to
get permission from property owners to install poles, the property owners prefer the poles
be installed at the side property lines rather than in front of their houses. Since the property
widths along the highway may vary greatly, the utility is forced to install poles with diverse
span lengths. To better understand how to deal with spans of different length, lets consider
a simple example. A developer has constructed a new road extending 1,184 feet off of an
existing road and is selling off property on both sides of the new road for the construction of
houses. The lot sizes vary greatly because of the terrain and natural features like streams.
To serve the new houses, the utility decides to install the poles at the side property lines
along the new road. Not every property corner has a pole. Some spans cross two lots. The
resulting design consists of eight spans; 140, 135, 124, 50, 200, 275, 150, and 110 in
length. If we run a sag/tension program for each of the span lengths and limit tension to 90
percent of the NESC limits, we will find that the final tensions vary greatly span to span
even though the tension limits are the same. The final tensions are different because the
span lengths are different. To reduce construction time and cost and to reduce the
differences in tension from one span to the next, the industry accepted method for stringing
the conductors over the eight spans is to string them all at the same time at the same
tension. Since we want to install the conductors at the same tension for all the spans, what
tension do we use? The industry accepted method to determine the tension to be used for
all the spans is to calculate a weighted average of the span lengths. The weighted average

is called the ruling span. The ruling span is the square root of the sum of each span length
cubed divided by the sum of the spans.

Table 2
We then run a sag/tension computer program on the ruling span to determine the stringing
tensions to be used for all the spans. The resulting sag/tension printout might look similar
to the information in table 2.

Note that the stringing tensions that would be used for all the span lengths are the initial
tensions at 30, 60, 90, and 120F from the above printout. Again, the crew installing the
conductors will have to extrapolate between the four temperatures to determine the
stringing tension corresponding to the actual conductor temperature at time of tensioning.
Effect on Tension

Table 3
If we run a sag/tension program for each of the diff erent span lengths using the initial
tensions from the above ruling span printout, we would fi nd that spans shorter than the
ruling span have less sag and higher tension than the ruling span and spans longer than the
ruling have greater sag and less tension than the ruling span. Since the shortest span will
have the highest tension, to insure that the design tensions do not exceed the NESC
maximums, we have to run the sag/tension computer program on the shortest span length
(50) limit-ing the initial tension at 120F to 1102 lb. Note that I have chosen the conductor
stringing temperature to be 120F. I did this because the final sag and tension is also a
function of the temperature of the conductor when it is tensioned. Stringing the conductors
at 120F is the worst case scenario. Spans shorter than the ruling span will have higher
tensions if tensioned at 120F. Spans longer than the ruling span will have greater sag if
tensioned at 120F. The resulting sag/tension program printout might look like table 3.
Note that the initial tension of 2977 lb at 60F exceeds the NESC maximum tension of 35
percent of RBS (2926 lb). This means that the 10 percent safety factor we assumed at the

beginning is not enough for this application. Some utilities limit the initial conductor tension
to 50 percent, instead of 60 percent, of the rated breaking strength under the loading
conditions specified in Rule 250B, the initial conductor tension at 0F, instead of at 60F, to
35 percent of the RBS, and the final conductor unloaded tension at 0F, instead of at 60F,
to 25 percent of the RBS.
Effect on Sag
Since most NESC clearances are a function of the sag of the conductor and spans longer
than the ruling span have greater sag, it is important to determine the actual sag of the
longer spans for calculation of the clearances for the longer spans. When the tension limits
used to design a line are close to the NESC tension limits, ruling span has very little eff ect
on the sag of the spans that are longer than the ruling span.
For example, consider the eight span example discussed above. If the tension of each span
were limited to 90 percent of the NESC limits, the 212F final sag of the 275 span would be
7.75 feet. If we install the 275 span at the same initial tension as for the 185.5 foot ruling
span, the 212F final sag would be 7.79 feet. When the tension limits used to design the
line are considerably lower than the NESC limits, ruling span does have a significant effect
on the sag of spans that are longer than the ruling span. For example, if the tension limits
of the same eight span examples discussed above were limited to 50 percent of the NESC
limits, the effect of ruling span on the 275-foot span would increase the 212F final sag by
almost 11 percent.

Ruling Span: The term ruling span is one of the most frequently used yet misunderstood
and misused term in the design, staking, and construction of overhead lines. Ruling span
is loosely used with several different meanings. The term should be preceded by a
descriptive adjective to identify its specific meaning.
3.2 The Ruling Span Theory: During stringing and sagging, the conductors are placed on
travelers at the supports and are dead-ended at the ends of the stringing section of the line.
While the conductor is on travelers and frees to move between spans, the conductor tension
and length in any span is a function of the combined average tension of all the spans and
the total conductor length of the dead-ended stringing section.

3.2.1 When all the spans have equal lengths and the supports are of equal elevation, the
behavior of the conductor in each span will be the same and can be determined by the
equations for the dead-end span. When the spans are of unequal length and the supports
are of varying elevations, the mathematics become too complicated to be easily calculated.
Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the problem.
3.2.2 By making certain reasonable assumptions concerning the behavior of the conductor
in a series of spans supported on travelers, the mathematics can be simplified to a
manageable equation. The assumptions for the Ruling Span Theory are:
The supports are at equal elevations since the span lengths are large compared to the
difference in elevation of supports. (Resultant errors will be negligible.)
The horizontal tension is constant throughout the stringing section since variations in
span lengths will not be great enough to cause a measurable difference in the horizontal
tension between any two adjacent spans.
The uneven spans are replaced by a series of equal spans such that the total length of the
conductor and the horizontal tension of the section is unchanged. Thus the sag and
tension characteristics of a single dead-end span can could be used to predict the sag
behavior in any of the spans in the section.
3.3.1 The theoretical ruling span equation is not exact because of the assumptions made.
Since its accuracy is sufficient for most line designs, it is the equation used most often to
calculate the ruling span for new overhead distribution lines.
3.3.2 Since the horizontal tension and the unit conductor weight are assumed constant
throughout the stringing section, the sag of any span in the section can be calculated by the
parabolic sag equations given earlier in Section 2.3 of this bulletin.
3.3.3 The above ruling span formula is the ruling span in its true sense. It has been called
ruling span, theoretical ruling span, actual ruling span, true ruling span, and equivalent
span. It is an equivalent span length based on the total length and average tension of the
conductor in a series of spans that is being pulled up and sagged in one operation. It is,
therefore, a function of all the spans included in the stringing section.
3.3.4 After being tied in, each span virtually becomes a dead-end span with approximately
the same tension as the theoretical ruling span. When the tied spans in the section are of

different lengths, changes in temperature, loading and elongation due to creep will cause
differences in tension between the spans. These differences in tension will cause a flexing or
bending of poles and arms.
3.3.5 This ruling span rules the behavior of the sagged section of line. The sag
characteristics of the ruling span set the sag characteristics of every span in the section. If
conductors are installed using a sag-tension table with the wrong ruling span, actual final
sags and tensions will not be the same as predicted. The greater the difference, the greater
the error!
3.4 Design Ruling Span: One or more assumed ruling spans, based on experience, has to
be used for the field design of a new line because the theoretical ruling span of a line
section cannot be determined until after the line is staked. If the land is reasonably flat, it is
appropriate to use a ruling span that approximates the level ground span. The required
ground clearance may be subtracted from the attachment height of the lowest conductor to
determine the sag limited by ground clearance. This sag value can then be used to
determine a ruling span length whose sag
is approximately equal to the sag allowed by the basic structure height. For rugged terrain,
a ruling span that is longer than the level ground span is usually more effective.
After staking, the theoretical ruling span should be calculated and compared with
the design ruling span.
Using a design ruling span appreciably different from the theoretical ruling span of the
section will produce unpredictable sags and tensions. Slack sags may cause clearance
problems while tightly drawn spans may cause uplift problems. Higher than predicted
tensions may exceed the permitted load on support assemblies or may cause aeolian
vibration problems.
3.5 Estimated Ruling Span: Knowledge gained from a reconnaissance of the proposed line
route may make it possible to estimate a ruling span. A traditional rule of thumb equation
that may be helpful in the estimation of a ruling span is:
Se = Average Span + 2/3 (Maximum Span Average Span)
3.5.1 Use this rule for estimating the ruling span with caution! This rule of thumb, used
indiscriminately, has significantly different sags and tensions than the true ruling span

equation. Even one span much longer than the average span may cause the estimated
ruling span to be much greater than the actual theoretical ruling span. This formula should
only be used for estimating the ruling span when the actual spans are not yet known. When
the spans are known, the theoretical equation should be used
3.6 Effects of the Wrong Ruling Span: The greater the difference between the
theoretical ruling span and the design ruling span, the greater the variation will be between
the actual and predicted sag and tension values. The magnitude by which actual sags and
tensions will differ from the predicted values is a function of conductor temperature and
loading.
If the design sag is greater than the theoretical sag, then the actual sag of the
installed conductors will be less than the predicted sag. This condition will lead to increased
conductor tensions, which may exceed the permitted loads of support structures and guying
assemblies.
If the design sag is less than the theoretical sag, then the actual sag of the installed
conductors will be greater than the predicted sag. This condition may result in inadequate
ground clearances.