Vista^® Underground Distribution Switchgear

Operating and Safety Benefits

Vista Underground Distribution Switchgear provides a major advancement in operating simplicity and safety for medium-voltage switchgear.

Conventional elbow-connected switchgear requires that operating personnel move, test, and ground cables during routine operations. Such procedures are awkward and time consuming, and — most importantly — personnel are not fully isolated from medium voltage once a cable is removed from its bushing.

Vista UDS introduces a new level of safety and simplicity by eliminating the need for cable handling during routine operations. It’s all made possible by Vista gear's numerous innovations, including:

• Clearly visible open gap and ground positions on all switches and fault interrupters.
• Especially large viewing windows for positive confirmation of closed, open, and grounded positions.
• Operating controls isolated from medium-voltage cable terminations.
• Optional built-in voltage indication on operating side of the gear.
• Optional low-voltage phasing feature on operating side of the gear.
• Ground positions are rated for a minimum of 3 fault-closing operations at maximum rated short-circuit current. Accidentally grounding a live cable is not a potentially dangerous situation, as it can be when physically handling live cables and elbows.
• Plus, Vista is certified arc resistant per IEC 60298 Annex AA for currents up to 12.5 kA symmetrical for 15 cycles. In the unlikely event that all the above safeguards are bypassed, arc resistance adds another level of safety not found in most other switchgear.