31–40 of 213 posts
* https://fiber-optic-catalog.ofsoptics.com/Asset/Closure.jpg
* https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/fiber-optic-enclosure-splice...
I did some work for an electricity utility and they wanted to get the pole IDs described in the article into our database, alongside the GIS data. The client explained that getting the IDs was kinda difficult and there were several different data sources for the various regions they provided service to. By and by we found a guy there who knew how everything worked and promised he'd get us the data that we needed - wh…
> that there were perhaps 1000 poles out there that weren't on any of there maps I can totally see how this would happen. When I bought my house, the power/utility lines were hanging about four feet off the ground in my backyard. Apparently the previous owner didn't care. I called the utility company to complain, and they sent someone out with a new full size pole, who basically just shoved it in the ground in the co…
Another problem that must be considered is that utility workers, while highly competent at their profession, are not always great with working on computers. They generally write everything down on paper and then have one of the younger linemen input the changes into the electronic records system.
Also utilities often have several record systems in place, some being GIS based, and some being mobile computer based with check in with a central database. These systems are almost never developed and worked on by the same people, so inconsistencies abound. It's normal for the inventories to diverge, and for updates to take weeks to propagate from one system to another.
> The cans are full of mineral oil, or sometimes vegetable oil! (Why are they full of oil? I don't know; I guess for insulation. But I could probably find out.) I think the oil's for cooling, actually.
> The cans are full of mineral oil, or sometimes vegetable oil! (Why are they full of oil? I don't know; I guess for insulation. But I could probably find out.) I think the oil's for cooling, actually.
Back around 2010 I worked for a company which built software to catalog residential distribution utility poles and the lines emanating from the poles to the houses. To elaborate on a few of the statements from the post Poles in my neighborhood tend to have consecutive numbers. I don't think this was carefully planned. The sequential ordering of pole numbers is definitely planned, and fits in with a scheme developed b…
The pole numbering also helps in things like the work PG&E has to do checking for trees and other obstacles posing a risk to transmission lines. The report indicating where the work needs to be done (for instance to cut down a tree) uses the pole number as a point of reference.
My father was the volunteer emergency service coordinator (and power station operator) in the tiny town where we grew up. his use of road names + power poles ids + direction & distance was frequently complimented by the accident investigators when they came to look at shit (and later the court cases for some)
Remote areas with 10s of KMs of power line and 0 other features :|
I absolutely love reading about a topic from a super enthusiastic non-expert. I want to subscribe to a weekly series called "Reasonably Intelligent Person Obsesses Over Something"
I have always wondered about utility poles, they always seem very fragile. Why not just stick everything in the ground?
Wood rots and breaks. Burial has flood issues. The solution is to install better poles.
Most commonly, the poles are concrete with a square cross-section. Some are round concrete, spun while hardening to allow a hollow interior. Some are galvanized steel, with perhaps a decagonal cross section.
One near my house is about 2 feet thick, with a label that says 50,000 pounds.
These are not fragile. :-)
In Australia we have a life extension program for hardwood poles which slides a steel formed sock/support down the side to stabilise it for many a year more after a hard life. We had some issues with corrosive dog wee. Tar treatment sometimes works. Also steel collars to keep possums off the top structure. In Europe there are other platforms above the transform and wire complex for bird nests. Storks, cranes all abov…
In Australia we have a life extension program for hardwood poles which slides a steel formed sock/support down the side to stabilise it for many a year more after a hard life. We had some issues with corrosive dog wee. Tar treatment sometimes works. Also steel collars to keep possums off the top structure. In Europe there are other platforms above the transform and wire complex for bird nests. Storks, cranes all abov…
As I understand it one of the largest concerns in AU are the wildfires damaging circuits connecting the disparate grids. There was some conversation about replacing some of the network poles with fire resistant poles in order to try and avoid the high number of outages caused by fires during the dry season. I'd be interested to know how that project went, and if it was successful.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> and not where it can have direct contact with people. Could you expand on that? My elementary school had a playground structure made of old utility poles. Other than getting pitch on our clothes, they didn't seem particularly hazardous.
It may be the same thing as railway sleepers: they are treated with Creosote, which is not a very good chemical
