Summary
The June 1971 Beaver Beacon reported that a submarine power cable was nearly installed to supply Beaver Island. Luedtke Engineering was laying the cable from the Cross Village shore, through a 26-mile route to the Beaver harbor entrance, past the St. James light, and to the island generator plant.
The account describes two 58-ton cable reels on a crane barge, a 36-inch-deep trench, a midway splice, and a maximum cable tension of 800 pounds.
Evidence and limits
This is a source-qualified construction report. The newspaper does not state the completion date, final route, as-built depth, service start, ownership, contract terms, or whether the diesel generator plant was actually retired as the normal power source.
See also
- Luedtke Engineering Company (1971 submarine cable work)
- Beaver Island power plant (1971 supply report)
- Saint James Harbor
Sources
- Beaver Beacon, June 1971, “Island Based Fuel Supply.”Reports a nearly installed 26-mile submarine cable laid by Luedtke Engineering from the Cross Village shore to Beaver harbor entrance and onward past the St. James light to the generator plant; it gives the cable, trench, barge, splice, and tension details but does not report completion, a final route survey, or an installation date.