The federal government has sought to head off a growing backlash from communities affected by proposed high-voltage transmission lines by launching a review of how projects are planned.
The federal government has sought to head off a growing backlash from communities affected by proposed high-voltage transmission lines by launching a review of how projects are planned.
Yeah, it might be impractical for some or all of the reasons, but I see some wiggle room.
Some dickhead accidentally digging through the buried cables is no more likely than the existing dickheads driving into the pylons with their tractors or clipping the cables with raised booms etc.
Happens so frequently in regional areas it’s barely even reported on, but there’s still plenty of news to find: https://www.google.com/search?q=power+lines+brought+down+by+tractor.
Doing some quick googling it looks like there have been some studies. https://www.nationalgrid.com/sites/default/files/documents/39111-Undergrounding_high_voltage_electricity_transmission_lines_The_technical_issues_INT.pdf
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/047134608X.W6146.pub2
https://electrical-engineering-portal.com/download-center/books-and-guides/power-substations/underground-power-transmission-lines
Looks like I have some more reading to do. ;-)