What is this on power poles?

[coobie]

I'm with @bunyip . I usually see critters climb trees and then move across power lines like a catwalk. Rarely see them climb the power poles...unless they are in a treeless prairie.

I wish I had a $10 bill for every time I pulled a dead squirrel or raccoon off a Hot overhead transformer in my 39 years as an electric lineman..

 

[Xfaxman]

One afternoon several years ago we heard what sounded like a rifle shot and the power went off. Looked out at the power pole and saw that a turkey buzzard had committed suicide:

 

[/pine]

All the more reason to bury and or enclose the distribution infrastructure...

 

[coobie]

All the more reason to bury and or enclose the distribution infrastructure...

Until you have a underground fault which takes twice as long to find and repair..

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Until you have a underground fault which takes twice as long to find and repair..

Also not really cost efficient.

 

[/pine]

Until you have a underground fault which takes twice as long to find and repair..

Just look for an idiot and an excavator...!

BTW...I meant to state "wherever possible"...

Around here the local co-ops spend ungodly amounts of money just keeping ROWs clear and then it's mostly trees just out of the ROW that end up causing faults...most of the stuff they cut will never interfere with the lines...

 

[Midniteoyl]

Didn't realize there was such a problem with critters climbing utility poles. I wonder how it would work to keep squirrels out of bird feeders.

I had the power go out once (popped the fuse) when a squirrel shorted them out. His head and shoulders were still attached to the arms grabbing the wire.. Over 4hrs to get a crew out to replace

 

[tmcj]

The company I work for makes fiberglass utility poles and crossarms, among many other profiles for various markets. No worries about critters climbing them, woodpeckers, etc. It is really a growing business for us. Anyone here familiar with fiberglass poles?

 

[ponytug]

Yup. Pricey, but in certain circumstances worth it in my opinion. Concrete and metal poles have their niches, too.

What types of customers do you sell the most to?

All the best, Peter

 

[Paddy]

Interesting to see several members working in the electrical power field. I'm a porcelain insulator engineer. Most of our products are for 245kV and above. The 765 kV insulators are 185 inches tall!

 

[stuckmotor]

Interesting to see several members working in the electrical power field. I'm a porcelain insulator engineer. Most of our products are for 245kV and above. The 765 kV insulators are 185 inches tall!

"Porcelain" is one of the words that male me think I might have a touch of dyslexia. Unless I concentrate on the individual letters, I tend to think it's "proclean".

 

[tmcj]

Yup. Pricey, but in certain circumstances worth it in my opinion. Concrete and metal poles have their niches, too.

What types of customers do you sell the most to?

All the best, Peter

Our Firestrong poles were a big gig. They are fire resistant with an added fire resistant sleeve on them also. Utility poles, light poles, piles for marine applications, cell antenna poles, etc. We supply for several big name utility companies.

Most fiberglass reinforced composites are high priced compared to traditional materials but it definitely has advantages in a lot of applications.

 

[dmccarty]

All the replies about the wrap keeping critters off the power pole, may or may not, be true...

It is possible that the real, untold story is that the wrap is a marker for pallets to be put in a field.

I have not seen wrapped power poles and thus no pallets in a field.

 

[orezok]

Out here in the desert, we have a similar wrap, but it is put at ground level. The high wind and blowing sand slowly eats away the pole unless protected.

 

[ponytug]

Our Firestrong poles were a big gig. They are fire resistant with an added fire resistant sleeve on them also. Utility poles, light poles, piles for marine applications, cell antenna poles, etc. We supply for several big name utility companies.

Most fiberglass reinforced composites are high priced compared to traditional materials but it definitely has advantages in a lot of applications.

After a recent fire here, the power company came back to replace the damaged poles. I don't know how big the crew was back in the fire hit area, but our valley was the pickup point for the poles to be flown back by helicopters. Eight hours of a helicopter pole lift every 30-45 seconds. It was amazing to watch the choreography, and the pre-planning that went into having the poles laid out to accommodate multiple choppers in the area at the same time. 500-1,000 poles, plus helicopter and crew costs...a fire resistant pole might have save them some significant cash.

I am a sucker for watching precision flying by helicopters, whether it is dropping crew off on high tension lines or poles, or HVAC placement on buildings.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Torvy]

I made a point to look at the poles on our electric easement this weekend. The pole nearest the road had the wrap, but the others did not. Not sure why, just an observation.

 

[dstig1]

One afternoon several years ago we heard what sounded like a rifle shot and the power went off. Looked out at the power pole and saw that a turkey buzzard had committed suicide:

View attachment 766721View attachment 766722

'ee's not dead! He's just pining for the Fjords!