Oregon Power Poles

| Here in Oregon, when conductors are brought from the top of the pole | to an underground cable at the bottom of the pole, the PVC enclosure | of the conductors is mounted on standoffs of what looks like 4 - 8 | inches so that the PVC (or whatever material is used) is not actually | touching the pole except for the supports. I have seen this done for | high voltage distribution (34.6 kV) but also for household service | entrances (240/120 V) voltage levels. | | I'm curious to know why the standoff from the pole, I haven't seen | this in other states. Anybody know for sure? | | It seems obvious that this is to protect the wooden pole some way, but | from what? Because of the cooler climate, Oregon has comparitively | less lighting than most other states. Many transmission circuits are | run without grounded static wires because of this. Does the standoff | make it easier to replace a damaged pole? Is it somehow a safer | installation?

Maybe they will know over in misc.industry.utilities.electric.

Conduit risers are mounded on standoffs to provide space for climbing the pole.

been quite a few years sence i have seen anyone climb a power pole... up up and awayyyyy in the bucket lift.

This is true. But there's still the occasional time that its easier to climb.

A few months ago, I saw a line crew setting up to change a bad transformer on a single phase lateral that had been rendered inaccessible to standard bucket trucks due to construction. You could walk in to the pole, but couldn't drive between a new building and a creek. At 8 AM, they were setting up with a full line crew, a crane with about 150 feet of reach and a bucket truck of similar dimensions. At about 3 PM, they were still there.

I can remember the good old days, when a crew would tackle this kind of job in a couple of hours by wheeling the transformer in/out with a hand truck and rigging a block and tackle to a portable hoisting arm (I forget what they called these things) and climbing. Figuring the difference in cost between the former specialized equipment (that crane alone probably rents for a few thousand $ a day with its own crew) and maybe a couple of extra grunts on the ground for the latter, machinery isn't always the cheapest way to get things done.

i have dealt with power companies in several of these united states. i have found the service crews, without exception, to be highly trained in safety procedures, professional acting, competent, suficiently equiped to handle the task at hand.

not too long ago i had a reason to get a quote on a 100' crane rental. if i recall correctly it was about $100/hr with a minimum delivery & operator charge or $750/day.

That's still pretty expensive compared to doing it by hand. I don't think there are any safety issues involved. At least not 20 years ago when our crews did a few of them this way.