Question for Wichita Linemen 2

[Brian Malone]

During the wild, wet winter that California had utility lines went down in various areas in the Sacramento area. One location of repair along a fairly rural part of a major road has three utility poles replaced and sections of the broken poles were retained on the replacement poles. My curiosity is piqued- what is the function/reason for keeping part of the old broken poles?

 

[cranky108]

The pole had to be replaced, but it had a secondary attachment on it. Because the owner of the secondary attachment has not removed there attachment to that pole, that section of the pole remains. And it now belongs to the owner of the secondary attachment.
In fact most poles are put up and owned by the utility company, and all secondary attachments should be paying the utility for there use of the pole. This pays for having a heaver pole and the other maintenance, and the engineering involved to be sure the pole will stand the added weight.
That said, if you place a garage sale sign on a pole, the utility should be able to charge you for the use of the pole. It is doubtful if they will.
There are times when a utility will replace a pole, and top the old pole, in effect giving the pole to the secondary users. This means the secondary users will be responsible for the disposition of the pole.

Old pole disposal is a real issue, and will be growing in the future. Maybe no more giving to the farmer.

 

[davidbeach]

The power company replaced the pole and installed their equipment on the new pole. It's then up to each of the comm facility owners to transfer their attachments to the new pole. Around here it's more usual that the power company just tops the old pole leaving the comm on the stub. But if the remnant of the pole pole is no longer self supporting you'll see things like that where a chunk of old pole gets tied to the new pole until the last of the comm stuff moves.

I’ll see your silver lining and raise you two black clouds. - Protection Operations

 

[Brian Malone]

cranky108 and davidbeach - thank you for the explanation The last cable that is attached to the stub end is the line from the comm company - and they have to pay to get it moved to the new poles! I learn something everyday. On a side note, it was quite amazing the speed of the crew(s) that put the broken poles back up. They worked through the night.

 

[cranky108]

Yes they will work through the night, and they get paid for it.
On the other hand, when things are working well they get paid to sit and play cards. Sort of like firemen.

For real emergencies, they can call in linemen from other companies, and that can be quite a big set up, trying to find hotels, and food for all the guys. Even bigger is laundry services, and snacks, and smokes.
These guys really are much like the fire fighters that fight wild fires, but a little more trained, pampered, and appreciated.

 

[LittleInch]

You have to look close a that - looks like the second line down is someone elses.

The rather scraggy bit of old rope holding up what must be a fair weight of pole remnant and cable isn't going to last long though....

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[crshears]

At my utility there's always plenty of regular work to be done whenever there aren't any storms in play, so there's no "sitting around playing cards" going on . . . at least there isn't supposed to be, meaning most of the time there's no deliberately paying personnel just to be on standby; but if there's a delay in getting the materials delivered for planned work and the crews can't work until, many a round / game of hearts or euchre might indeed be played.

CR

"As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." [Proverbs 27:17, NIV]

 

[bacon4life]

In my area it can be a huge hassle to get comm companies to transfer their equipment in a timely fashion. Typically transfers get made in order of height, (i.e. when the uppermost company transfers, they notify the next lower company). A delay by one company prevents all the lower ones from moving.

Other than lunch and coffee breaks, I have not seen line crews sitting around when things are going well. Sometimes things go poorly like having to wait for materials or waiting for coordination with a crew at a different job site.

 

[davidbeach]

Or waiting for switching that got delayed when something else went south.

I’ll see your silver lining and raise you two black clouds. - Protection Operations

 

[cranky108]

Right now the materials they are waiting on are distribution transformers. Seems to be a shortage, and the home builders are impatient. And long deliveries of some types of fuses for wild fire mitigation.

And shortage of estimators, and engineers.