Bus bars
An underground subway
Directly below the generator floor, running beneath the two banks of oil switches, are the power station’s bus bars. Similar to an underground subway system, the bus bars extend the full length of the building and were used to route power from the generators to the power distribution grid.
A bus bar is a heavy metal bar made of copper, steel or aluminum used for high-current power distribution. In the highest voltage conditions, like at the generator itself, each phase of the current would be carried on a separate bus bar, distributing the power from the generators to the oil switches that then routed the power to transformers. Spreading out the phases minimized risks.
This power station has eight interconnected 11,000-volt main bus bars, laid out in two parallel rows in the subway system below the generators. Bus bars 1,3,5 and 7 ran along the west side of the powerhouse; bus bars 2,4,6, and 8 ran along the east side. Additional smaller voltage bus bars ran alongside these.
