A Rare Example Of A Pole Replacement
One day, I noticed a rare instance of a new pole getting taken down while the somewhat older and cracked pole continues to stand. My guess is that the utility companies gave second thoughts about the wiring location, and decided to have the wires go across the road at some point. Both the cracked pole that is going to be replaced and a neighboring pole have been marked with an arrow, as there has also been a new pole, with a push brace pole, erected from across the road. Looking at the push brace pole carefully, I recognized it as the same pole that was originally standing next to the cracked pole that is to be replaced. It is obvious that the telephone company set the new poles up this way, because they are orange Mereduc brands, and that it is the telephone wiring that has been transferred so far, not to mention that telephone pole numbers have been hammered on them, not electric pole numbers. The cracked pole is now gone, the electric company had transferred the wires to the new pole across the road, and electric company ID numbers and tags are now on the new pole; the push brace pole, however, still only has the telephone company numbers on it.
Seeing A New Pole Get Erected
For the first time, I witnessed an erection of a new pole. As I figured, the device that looks like a giant drill (on the crane-like part of the utility truck) is used to create a hole for the new pole to go in. (The drill is more slow and less noisy than what I expected it to be.) I also found out that they use what looks like an orange belt to lift up the pole (this belt is located within the same crane-like area). After the new pole is upright correctly, it is slowly lowered into the hole. A small loop-like rope on the crane-like part is then used to hold the new pole into place as the utility men take the dug-up dirt and pile it around the new pole, as well as use a device (I believe) that flattens out the dirt around it. I also witnessed the hammering up of ID numbers for the first time; this is one of the last things that is done during an erection of a new pole. The whole process apparently takes about 30 to 45 minutes altogether.
Seeing An Old Pole Get Taken Down
I witnessed the taking down of an old pole (one that had been out of service for many years that had been used at a tennis court). It is like watching an erection of a new pole, only in reverse. A major difference, though, is that the pole was sawed off at its butt.
The Orange Wraparounds
The wraparounds are put on top of poles only occasionally, which, of course, is before the electric company transfers wires, or puts new ones altogether, on the new pole.
Watching Poles Get Erected in Hadley
On one trip to Hadley, I witnessed the telephone company erect the last two of four poles that they did so that day. I was also given some idea as to what the orange material wrapped around a new pole is for. At some point, I was guessing that it had something to do with nearby trees, since one new pole that they erected is near trees. When I was watching them put up another pole, however, one lineman considered putting the orange wraparound material on the new pole going up. I heard another lineman saying to him, "We won't be needing that." This was after the pole was successfully stood upright and almost fully erect in the hole that it was going in. My guess is that the linemen use the orange wraparound to even the weight of the pole because the bottom of it is probably heavier.
Trickier Than Usual To Erect
Because of the direction that this new pole was down on the ground, it was trickier than usual for the linemen to erect it. They had to turn the pole around because of its laying down location as compared to where the old pole is standing.
Some Tools Used
I also noticed at least a couple of different tools used: something to unscrew climbing hooks (in which in this case two were taken off the old pole) and a device (which looks like a gigantic C-head can opener) to roll the pole around. There were also at least two or three shovels used.
A Couple More Tools
There is a small thing on wheels that attaches to the end of a vehicle that I know of that is used to carry new poles. I have also seen what looks like a gigantic drill on the utility trucks. My guess is that this is probably used to make a hole for a new pole to fit into the ground.
Some Firsts
In late March/early April 2004, I saw a first: an orange wraparound lowered near the ground. This was after the electric company was working on putting in new wires and taking out old ones. I felt the orange wraparound, and found out that it is made of a hard plastic, similar to what sleds are made out of, only thicker. (Someone made a joke that the orange wraparound is for the drunks, so they don't hit the pole.)
In July 2005, I saw a second new pole with the wraparound near the ground; it is located in Leyden. Later that year, I saw some more wraparounds near the bottom of two poles next to each other, one newer and one older. (First time that I've seen a wraparound on an older pole.) All of the Greenfield poles mentioned here are on Elm Street.
I saw another first regarding the orange wraparounds. In 2005, I saw one new pole in Greenfield having two wraparounds. This pole is the aforementioned one located on Elm Street, where I later saw one wraparound each on the new pole and the older one that it is replacing. I also eventually saw another pole with two wraparounds. I don't remember exactly which pole, but I believe it is a rather new one next to AutoZone in Greenfield. This pole is also one of the first ones that I've seen with a wraparound still on it even after most of the wires were installed on the pole.
Something Similar?
In early 2006, I saw a couple of poles on Elm Street in Greenfield with what looks like an orange flag on their crossarms. In one case, the crossarms are brand new. I've seen at least a couple of other poles on Elm Street having these flags. My guess is that it means that there is more work to be done on wiring of these poles.
Cutting Poles Down To Size
...Before Putting In The New Pole?
On Deerfield Street in Greenfield, I noticed an unusual way for the utility companies (probably electric, in this case) to replace an old pole with a new one: electric wires were taken off the old pole, and the pole cut shorter, before the new pole was put in. Then, eventually, the new pole was erected, but probably after the old one was taken out altogether. My guess is that it is because of where the old pole was located: in a paved area on a sidewalk near the side of the road. From what I can see, it appears that the very same hole that the old pole left behind is now being used by the new pole. [Incidentally, there was also a number skip in the telephone sequence. Even though the numbers on the old pole appeared only in pieces, I can tell that it had the number "20" and that the number "21" was obviously skipped because a remaining piece of a number looked like that of a "0." The pole that followed this one is "22," skipping "21." However, the new pole bears the telephone company number "21"; it is now "20" that is skipped instead.]
Other Examples Of Reusing Pole Holes
The method of replacing old poles with new ones by reusing the same holes appears to have been used on the earlier part of the Bank Row end of Deerfield Street as well. This applies to three telephone company serviced poles. It also applies to a telephone company pole, located in the same area, that was hit in early 1999. Like the pole mentioned directly above, these four poles were also located at a paved area.
Tiny Part Still Remaining In Wires
On cutting down poles going out of service, there are a few instances in which a tiny part of the pole is still hanging there, holding up a few wires (usually telephone ones).
Just Missed Seeing Them Sawing The Head Off An Old Pole
I also had just missed the sawing off a head of an older pole. I had heard distant sawing. By the time I began witnessing, the electric company was carefully carrying the head of the pole down with their machinery and ropes. The crossarms were still on the head of the pole when they sawed it off, something I was surprised to see. That same day, I witnessed them transferring a street light from another old pole to its respective new pole. There were also two electric trucks doing the wire transferring, probably in order to get the work done faster.
Finally Saw The Sawing
In August 2003, I finally saw the cutting of an older pole. The top of the pole was cut into thirds, and the pieces were dropped to the ground. As I figured, they use a chainsaw to cut the pole. This took place on Sugarloaf Street in Deerfield.
Cutting Down To Size Several Times
An old pole going out of service can also be cut down to size several times. For instance, after the electric company transfers some of the electric wires to a new pole, they cut a little bit of the top off. After the electric company is finished transferring wires altogether, the pole is cut down to where the cable and telephone wires are. Then, after the telephone company and/or cable company transfers the wires that they service, the older pole is sometimes cut down to size even more.