I guess I'm getting new power poles.

[Shannow]

Chris,
the poles don't get any newer with age...one of my managers was recently living off bagged ice, propane, and a little gen-set for 8 days while the utility put the poles in his district and property back up having been installed short, and a big storm.

 

[Chris142]

They have drilled and tested them over the years for rot and termites. Last year I talked to the guy and he said there was nothing wrong with it. I have mixed up some fuel for the little generator. My wife feels confident in keeping it running and we do have tanks of oxygen but not a whole days worth. I'm interested in seeing how they are going to get the new pole up here but I guess they did in 58 somehow.

 

[Shannow]

Quarter century ago, I was in the field with the linesman putting in new wood poles out in paddocks.

mid 70s Mercedes truck, 6WD (2 rear, 1 front drive axle), had a 4' post hole auger and "clamp" crane to move the posts.

Another 6WD with man box would lift down the overheads to the ground.

Dig new hole plant new pole...don't cut old pole until new one is up...then restring the lines.

Men with their dogs eating sandwiches and brewing tea while the major activities took place.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
They have drilled and tested them over the years for rot and termites. Last year I talked to the guy and he said there was nothing wrong with it.


It would be interesting to hear about the general life span of these poles in your climate, where I would think dry rot would be the most prevalent issue. Back in the 50s they probably used tar to protect them, I believe also that some of that tar contained arsenic as well as a additive perhaps that is what they are concerned about it leeching out over the years.

 

[BRZED]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: BRZED
I presume the guidelines for how deep power poles must be buried is based on the calculations of expert engineers. Of course, maybe an improperly secured power pole could be reinforced with guy-wires or even with rebar, which I hear has many unexpected uses.


There goes your poor old sense of humour...although it's a bit of a far fetched application.


I hope Overkill will explain to me whether or not you are being serious.

 

[BRZED]

Originally Posted By: Shannow
Men with their dogs eating sandwiches and brewing tea while the major activities took place.


Men with sandwich eating and tea brewing dogs! ROTFFL!

 

[hattaresguy]

They are swapping all the poles from the old 30ft ones to the new 40's, every old pole is on the list for replacement.

They are doing it for a very simple reason, they have to carry more fiber optics and telecommunications lines. Their is a 10 foot separation between the electric lines at the top and everything else. On the old 30ft poles that would only leave like a foot or two until you get the minimum OTR clearance which I think is 18-20 feet. On the new 40's you get 10 feet, so more room for say Google fiber!!

In my profession we deal with the utilities all the time and replace poles all the time.

 

[hattaresguy]

Originally Posted By: bvance554
Those are the 'shovel ready' jobs that we paid a trillion for a few years back. Got some of that Obama money to spend. Moderators.... That is not a political statement. It is money already spent. Its behind us. Gotta keep up those infrastructure improvements.


Actually it has nothing to do with politics.

Its because we live in a first world nation and not some 3rd world hole, so we actually spend money to maintain our utilities. A 60 year old pole is not acceptable in the US as it is in say Haiti, so we update and replace it.

In my area the water company is updating their lines constantly, and the gas company is going to all new and very expensive plastic lines that should last 100 years and can provide lots of cheap natural gas.

Its what we do in you know the first world.

The OP will cry now, but he will cry a lot more when it comes down, and be without power for far longer. Crying is typical and is ignored, the vast majority of the population hates construction work and has little to no understanding of what it takes to keep their utilities functioning.

 

[MNgopher]

Just be happy they are being replaced proactively rather than after they fail. This is how we used to take care of our infrastructure with proactive replacements. Like everything else, codes change, guidelines change, technologies change. Odds are you use much more electricity now than you did 50 years ago...

The list of things we aren't proactively replacing is getting longer and the bill when it all comes due will be awfully steep... Pay me now or pay me later you could say...

 

[Chris142]

I mainly wish that they could do it on a weekend. Be much easier on my schedule lol

 

[BRZED]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I mainly wish that they could do it on a weekend. Be much easier on my schedule lol


Mr L, are all power and communication lines in your corner of the desert up on poles? Is some of it buried underground and out of sight at least in town?

 

[Brad_C]

I'll just say that in Western Australia we have had 2 major fire incidents in the past 5 years that resulted in the loss of many houses that were started by poorly maintained poles coming down.

It's not just the inconvenience of power loss after a storm.

Periodic maintenance is *good* and I've never seen a utility company yet that replaces things without a [censored] good reason.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: BRZED
Originally Posted By: Chris142
I mainly wish that they could do it on a weekend. Be much easier on my schedule lol


Mr L, are all power and communication lines in your corner of the desert up on poles? Is some of it buried underground and out of sight at least in town?
the new construction gets it underground from the pole to the building. The older businesses get power from behind now. My house and shop where I work still have poles out by the street

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: hattaresguy
Originally Posted By: bvance554
Those are the 'shovel ready' jobs that we paid a trillion for a few years back. Got some of that Obama money to spend. Moderators.... That is not a political statement. It is money already spent. Its behind us. Gotta keep up those infrastructure improvements.


Actually it has nothing to do with politics.

Its because we live in a first world nation and not some 3rd world hole, so we actually spend money to maintain our utilities. A 60 year old pole is not acceptable in the US as it is in say Haiti, so we update and replace it.

In my area the water company is updating their lines constantly, and the gas company is going to all new and very expensive plastic lines that should last 100 years and can provide lots of cheap natural gas.

Its what we do in you know the first world.

The OP will cry now, but he will cry a lot more when it comes down, and be without power for far longer. Crying is typical and is ignored, the vast majority of the population hates construction work and has little to no understanding of what it takes to keep their utilities functioning.


Actually, I suspect the old poles, if left in place, would outlast the replacements. The EPA won't let the new poles be treated with the stuff that actually WORKS...so they decay faster! The power pole closest to my old house dated to the 1930s...and it was in better shape than the ones installed at the street 20 years ago.

I wonder whose brother got the contract for the plastic gas lines...?

 

[ddrumman2004]

Around here, the utility company sets a new pole by the old one, transfers the cables/lines over to the new pole, then cuts the old pole down. No power loss.

Same operation with a three phase line.

 

[GiveMeAVowel]

Originally Posted By: ddrumman2004
Around here, the utility company sets a new pole by the old one, transfers the cables/lines over to the new pole, then cuts the old pole down. No power loss.

Same operation with a three phase line.


That's how Duke Energy does it as well. They've been replacing some poles here that are around 65 years old now.

 

[andyd]

Pressure treated creosote laced with copper sulfate would kill any organism that ate it. Humans included. Great stuff for the aquifer. Agent Orange was an herbicide developed for weeding power lines of second growth flora. It was used on Americans at home before it was weaponized.
I agree with Eljefino, this isn't make work. This is over due maintenance and improvements. The power companies have amalgamated into 2 companies. After yrs of just fixing it when it broke. The utilities are putting in heavier and taller transmission lines in the rights of way.