Library closed by ruptured electrical transformer

Plainfield Public Library Emergency Transformer Replacement - July 31, 2006 Workers arrived after the weekend to find much of the power out and the air conditioning not functioning. All the Library's clocks were stopped at 5:30 noted Library Director Joe Da Rold, adding that that could have been any 5:30 between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning. The Library was closed at 10:00 AM on Monday, and is expected to reopen Wednesday, August 2, at 10:00 AM. PSEG&G crews arrived and worked through the day and into the evening, remediating the spilled oil and replacing the burned-out transformer, and were expected to be there at least until midnight. Photos below by PT. (As always, click on any picture to enlarge)

Trucks and crane from PSE&G and vacuum equipment from Allstate PowerVac

Schematic of an underground transformer vault (OSHA) -- larger than the Library's

Library and remediation personnel consult

Feeding hose into transformer vault

Remediating oil spilt by ruptured transformer

Allstate PowerVac vacuum truck

New transformer. This one transformer will replace three in the vault, thought to be original -- which would date them back to the mid-1960s, when the Library was constructed.