Off the Regular Linework.....

[LostArt]

The Boss and I went flats fishing yesterday at Suwannee, FL. Suwannee is a small community that sits on the Gulf of Mexico and where the mouth of the Suwannee River goes out into the gulf.

Why is it that women and men are rarely on the same page??? :D This is just one of the few times the boss and I aren't!

We are slowly going out in the flats when I notice the powerlines and I ask "How far does this go out?" And his response, "All the way to Mexico dear." I'm thinking, HUH???? And finally I laugh and say, "Not the water dear, the line!" :D


This might even be "regular" work for some of you, I wouldn't know. I've not come across it if you have talked about it. How many of you have worked in the water setting powerlines? I've seen it pulled across the river, but never set in water. I figure that would be pretty interesting.

By the way, I didn't see a new power pole yesterday---all looked many years old to me---and wood. The line went to an old shack on a small island in the flats. Bet that line would cost a good penny by today's standards.

[LostArt]

So, it is pretty rare, eh? I wondered.......

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmm no Swamprat built that fore they added the water to the gulf.

[LostArt]

Texas is on the Gulf coast also.....so you never did any linework in the water Poot? Have you seen it done?

[tramp67]

Ahh, paddling out on a boat to change out a broken arm. It's a nice break from regular line work. There's some of that on the Mighty Mississippi too, but I think most anything new ends up being either submarine cable or transmission lines on big towers. So, did the line go all the way to Mexico?:rolleyes:

[Swamprat]

The Boss and I went flats fishing yesterday at Suwannee, FL. Suwannee is a small community that sits on the Gulf of Mexico and where the mouth of the Suwannee River goes out into the gulf.

I was wonderin how the hell ya caught a "Brim" and a "Redfish". Now I understand.

As for the poles my Lady,...You women just need to frame your questions better. I mean shit!!
"How far does this go out?":eek: That's Exactly how I'd have answered ya!

How the hell did he know you were "Star gazin" and lookin at the POWERLINES? God damn women....;)

As for how those poles got there....
Dependin on depth of the water LA...ya "Jet" em down.

Ask Robert...He'll explain "Jettin" to ya. In "DEEP" water...Ya either "jet" the Pylons down, or ya "Jet" the casings down...so ya can pour concrete in the casings to Make the Pylons. Ya get me?:p

BTW poontang....."Up yours".:p

[Lineman North Florida]

Worked in Louisiana after Katrina and Rita came through , never had set poles in water till then. Installed what the local hands called bog shoes which was nothing more than creosote treated rough cut 2 by6;s in a triangle one atop the other took a boom on a marshmaster and kept pounding the pole up and down,within just a few minutes the bog shoes were buried up in the mud and the poles we set were solid enough for climbing, a little skeptical at first but it worked.

[thrasher]

We aren't on the coast here but we have swamps all over the place. Most lines were built by picking the time of year when the swamp's water level was down and we could just build regular construction. However some times we set in water with a bog shoe. Our bog shoes are 10 foot sections of poles cut and mounted about 6 feet from the butt, then with a kicker bar up another ten feet on the pole. A long time ago you would set a pole in the swamp by taping a 1/4 stick of dynamite to the butt, stand it up then blast. The dirt and mud would move and the pole would fall in the hole, then the bog shoe would stop the pole at the right place while the mud rolled back. I've also done it with an air compressor and a jet hooked to the pole blowing out at the butt. This will literally blow the mud out of the way then the pole sinks to the bog shoe. (By the way if you have an apprentice who is a real piece of work have him "steady" the air hose, the mud really flies for the first couple of feet.)

[LostArt]

Jettin' and a bog shoe. Okaaaay. I'm a visual person so I have no idea what these things look like, but I think I get the general idea.

Oh, and welcome to the site Lineman North Florida. Are you in Jax? Tally?

[Pootnaigle]

UMMMMMMMMMMMM i would splain all this at ya but I dun offended Swamprat
n Lord Knos how bad I feel bout that so yer on yer own fer the hole resta this post Miss LA

[mainline]

That is a dirty trick on the Ape, but I would love to have seen it. The look on his face must have been priceless.

[Lineman North Florida]

Lost art, I live out in the country North of Gainesville,but I do work for G.R.U. Thanks for the welcome, computers and me dont hit it off the best but I will give it a shot if you can bare with me.

[LostArt]

Lost art, I live out in the country North of Gainesville,but I do work for G.R.U. Thanks for the welcome, computers and me dont hit it off the best but I will give it a shot if you can bare with me.



You have a PM. :D

PM = Private message

Please tell me you are NOT my next door neighbor. Wouldn't that be a hoot???!! :D

[Lineman North Florida]

Lost Art, I think I got a private message sent your way, still trying to learn about these computers, hope it went where it was supposed to.

[LostArt]

I got it! So far you are doin' pretty darn good LNF! :D

BTW, how many from GRU do they send on storm work? As you know, CE doesn't send.

[Lineman North Florida]

LA, we usually send between 25 and 30 which is about half of our workforce, last year was kinda slow for us though we only went on one trip to Louisville Kentucky ,we were there about 2 weeks.

[Boomer gone soft]

Up here in the land of 10,000 lakes, we don't use bog shoes anymore. I haven't built any bog shoes, but I have wrecked miles of them out of the swamps and lakes.

La, you mentioned the line was old and wood and in water. The oldest date nail in my collection came from a wood pole set in water--1939. The pole was still solid and safe to climb--amazing.

We put on butt plates if the ground is semi-solid.

If it's soup (we call it loon shit), or in water, we screw a culvert in. Then we dig out the inside of the culvert, set the pole inside and rock it in. Sometimes the outside of culverts needs a little rock also.

[LostArt]

Wow. 25 to 30? That's a good many guys. CE couldn't do that! Right now CE isn't replacing folks if they retire or leave. I think I heard the Boss say the other day there are two foremen and a line crew leader on one crew. Got the dag gum bosses in the trenches! :D


Up here in the land of 10,000 lakes, we don't use bog shoes anymore. I haven't built any bog shoes, but I have wrecked miles of them out of the swamps and lakes.

La, you mentioned the line was old and wood and in water. The oldest date nail in my collection came from a wood pole set in water--1939. The pole was still solid and safe to climb--amazing.

We put on butt plates if the ground is semi-solid.

If it's soup (we call it loon shit), or in water, we screw a culvert in. Then we dig out the inside of the culvert, set the pole inside and rock it in. Sometimes the outside of culverts needs a little rock also.

Hey Boomer! Yeah, this line looked REALLY OLD! And the shack looked worse! :D

If you were wrecking the bog shoes/line.......what happened to the line? Moved it out or replaced it? Do you use wood now to replace or concrete poles? Or do they avoid the swampy areas?

[Edge]

LA... Ive worked on I dunno how many transmission jobs where we worked steel towers up from pilons out in rivers bays and all the rest... it's kinda fun to have to take a tugboat to work everyday... and what makes it even better is the fact that the towers are usually 400+ foot tall due to ship crossings and tides! Its the kinda thing that separates some of us f'ing crazes from the rest of the pack hehe... been on some of those swamp jobs too jetting and boggin... hell some places we'd just paint a mark on the pole 7 ft up from the but and rig the damned digger in just the winch line and "push!!!" the GD pole into the ground... it's usually the thing to do below sea level.... gotta watch wtf youre doing though... cuz once the suction takes over it can literally make a 40 footer into a 3 footer heheheheh

Edge

yeah I'm torched don't care I'm on vacation!

[LostArt]

LOL! Whoa! That's what I'd be doing hollering whoa! Too funny. A tug boat to work. Well, I'm glad the flood is receeding or that's what I'd of had to do to get to work a few weeks ago.

Working on the water, swamps, lakes, etc....has got to be pretty interesting. Like maybe fishing while you are out there? The temptation has to be great....it would be for me! :D

Happy Vacation Edge. :D

[Edge]

Thank you ma'am!!! I'm fishin of the Outer banks atm... have caught anything but some beers from the cooler and thats ALRIGHT! weather supposed to get crappy tomorrw so maybe I'll go crabbin... maybe I'll go home ... either way I don't care!!!

Edge