Poor City Maintenance Never Gets Old
Submitted By: Eric G
Favorite Comment: Fixer badgirl says, “Red rover, red rover, we dare the stop sign over!”
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Effing great. There are a lot of idiots out there.
Ghetto repair.
Um…..No, just no.
just need some duct tap. will be good as new
Looks that those poles tied the knot. Hope they have a wonderful future together.
I think the city workers have been watching too much Idiocracy.
Relax, it’s just another Roper poll.
It is so comforting to know that here in Crapville, USA, we are always well taken care of.
ohh, that looks professional – knot!
I worked in utilities for years, climbing those things, causing all those weird holes you see in the sided of them. Falling down one is like being scraped with a huge cheese grater.
Anyway, the reason you’ll see poles like this isn’t a kludge at all. It is the way it’s supposed to be done. After a pole hit (referred to affectionately as “Car vs. Pole” by police & utilities alike), there are typically 3 utilities at work to do the “shift”: Power, Telco and CATV (Cable). Whoever owns the pole (usually power) is responsible for digging the new hole and planting the new pole.
They then shift their lines over, and let the rest of us in afterward. Because they are responsible, they “lash” the 2 poles together with “lashing wire” (the stuff you see between the 2 poles). When the last of the utilities on the old pole is switched over, the owner comes back and pulls out the old pole & all leftovers of the crash.
It may look like a kludge, but this is just SOP.
Sorry…
I’m also a liney, but in another part of the world.
We would have health and safety all over our ass if we left a pole like that.
Our procedure method would be grab it with a lifter/borer. Use a second one to put in a new pole and transfer the power. Then chainsaw/remove the old pole.
As for the rest of the stuff on the poles, phone/fiber/whatever we just unbolt it and let it hang. Or hang it off a coach screw/pole step with a few big zip ties.
As long as it is above stat height it’s not our problem. We let them know of course but it can take weeks for them to get contractors out to move the other stuff.
Sad that the three companies can’t just get it done within 24 hours.
it isn’t that easy. You see the underground conduit on the pole on the right? Unlike the aerial lines, they can’t just be dragged over someone’s lawn and run up a pole. They need to be housed and shielded (oddly enough, from being struck!) like you see on the right. Usually a shorter pole than new code was there, and a taller pole needs to be put in. That means the old lines have to go further. If the new pole is put in a position away from the underground destination, even more cabling is needed.
In order to create cabling (any utility), you need to splice and extend the lines. This takes time, and is at the bottom of the priority list.
As long as it is not a safety risk (enter the strand and lashing wire), it can wait. So again, not a kludge by any stretch of the imagination, just plain ole SOP.
pat
I also find it sad that they could not install the new pole vertically. Did they mean to put it in on an angle?
The problem is that this has been this way for a couple years now. They haven’t fixed this at all, they have just left it this way.
@Eric G., While that in itself might make it a kludge (temporary for long enough = permanent), I think the thing speaks more to bureaucracy, and what gets done when the money gets tight.
Maybe once the replacement gets hit as well, it will get fixed for real?!?
pat
could also be the fine work of the local telco or electric company (poles often have a tag indicating who to blame if it breaks, and utility companies will call in the other one if it’s not their pole).
Unaware that the little men had tied his legs together, the giant started to take a step forward…
So was the pole dancing at the reception?
I wouldn’t know I wasn’t invited to their polish wedding.
Hobbled telephone poles.
Splint(ered).
git ‘er done!
This fix is perhaps more common than it should be. We have at least two of these in my town as well.
Remind me not to stop by!
All this reasoning is taking the fun out of it.
@TJ
true that
@TJ
All the more reason to find a real “kludge”!
Red rover, red rover, we dare the stop sign over!
the one on the left reminds me of my knee after ACL surgery
Been there, done that (twice!), so I feel your pain. I’m thinking more along the lines of “knee replacement” in this case.
Twice is twice too many!
I believe this was the pole used in the Plus Size strip joint.
He didn’t know that they made giant zip ties.
What happens to poles after Annie Wilkes gets her hands on them.
Worst. Tourniquet. Ever.
nothing was said but everyone knew, it was time to move
Tiimmmmmberrrrr…
Ah, Burlington New Jersey… on RT541 I pass it every day on my way to work.
BDSM of the utilities world
Thanks Spiderman!
And it doesn’t even look like a bad neighborhood
See it for yourself at the intersection of Rancocas Rd and Rt.541 in Burlington, NJ
I don’t think so. That intersection is all 4 lanes, dividers, etc.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&q=Rancocas+Rd+%26+Co+Route+541+Bypass,+Mt+Holly,+Burlington,+New+Jersey+08060&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=57.161276,60.029297&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FeJQYgId2JeK-w&split=0&hq=&hnear=Rancocas+Rd+&ll=39.998102,-74.803682&spn=0.003423,0.003664&t=k&z=18
“The Steven” is right. That is exactly where the intersection is (add onto it Fountain Ave also – it’s a 5 point intersection). It’s been like that for as long as I can remember. On a side note, funny seeing so many neighbors reading and replying to this site
Can anyone tell me if license plate number “358 WVD” is embossed into the busted pole? I have a sneaking suspicion that my ex stole my Trans Am.
I nominate thee for this month’s Darwin Award.
I would like to thank my local kludgers, who were smart enough to not stop by the awards ceremony, for fear of something exploding or falling down.
Hey I know where this is ive seen it a bunch of times, it’s in central jersey right?
I have an Australian friend who tells me that telephone/electricity poles in his part of the country are not wooden at all, because of the fire risk, and the shortage of good straight timber for poles which doesn’t attract termites (true!!). Where he comes from, they use “Stobie poles”, which are tapered concrete columns supported on either side by steel I-sections, originally developed in the 1920s. I’m told they can last for 60 years or more, unless some idiot plows into one.
Cool!
In the US, the old wooden poles had year markers nailed into them. We used to collect them-those and the ancient glass insulators. Some of the year markers I have are from the late 20′s!
pat
Yep, that’s down in south Australia. Other states are going to concrete for the big poles and reusing old ones. Good straight hardwood is getting sparse
How much you want to be that for no apparent reason the cement ones get hit less often?!
pat
I’m told that these “Stobie poles” still remain practically upright (and the cabling on them remains safe and functional) when hit by most cars, because of the strength of the I-sections. If a B-double truck going at 80MPH hit one, could be a different story. But that wouldn’t happen too often.
Spiderman gave us an amazing kludge.
I worked in he industry for years as well. Its really no big deal. Technically the pole up the road and down the road can support the weight of this broken one. The lashing is to prevent it from swinging and being unsafe until they can do a permanent repair. Generally in a few days.
Exactly. If power is pissed t you (like you didn’t even bother to go out on the hit), they would chainsaw just above & below the other utilities’ lines, leaving just the 5/8″ bolts through the wood, and the stump left in the breeze.
I always showed up with coffee & donuts.. That way, they’d shift my lines for me… Smart!
pat
you are right. I do love the “stump in the air” phenom when I saw it occasionally.
“alright Gord that aught to hold that post up for the next few weeks. Time fer lunch.”
This has been like this for more than a few years. Try more like 12 years +.
I passed by this just the other day in Burlington, NJ haha.
Mommy look at what i did!!- now can you give me my jump rope back?