Whats going on in this Photo?

[reppy007]

Sadly that some newer lineman would only wonder why these poles are leaning.Some may never re-conductor.....they just might fill out a report on many poles leaning and need to be straightened ...........https://www.flickr.com/photos/626896...ol-powerlines/

[Hebrew]

Looks like a two phase line had some damage and the opportunity was taken to build a new three phase line.Probably with insurance money.

[bren guzzi]

They wanted to build a new line where the old one was running . Prob pushed old poles over " live/hot " ... That gave them room to build new line in its place...get it all strung dead then liven it up and remove old line.

[bluestreak]

I'm with Bren appears to be something planned to get the old line out of the way for the rebuild.

[reppy007]

Wouldnt it be easy to say that there is a need for a 3 phase service down the line?Glad that nobody noticed the flashing on that first pole

[Orgnizdlbr]

Sadly that some newer lineman would only wonder why these poles are leaning.Some may never re-conductor.....they just might fill out a report on many poles leaning and need to be straightened ...........https://www.flickr.com/photos/626896...ol-powerlines/

That would be about the dumbest way I've ever seen a reconductor job done......... And I've reconducterd many many miles of wire........

[Rob]

That would be about the dumbest way I've ever seen a reconductor job done......... And I've reconducterd many many miles of wire........

Why go through all that work to shift every pole! And what happened to the poles that snapped at the base? Makes no sense.....Those old poles weren't in the way of anything.

[reppy007]

Its in Iowa...not Texas this time.By the way.......this old pole wasnt in the way of anything either......The car must have been built well....http://www.riodrivingschool.co.uk/wp...r_crash_14.jpg

[Lineman North Florida]

That doesn't work to well anywhere around here, cause there is usually a lateral pull off or transformer bank on every pole.

[wudwlkr]

That would be about the dumbest way I've ever seen a reconductor job done......... And I've reconducterd many many miles of wire........

Just because you can't do this type of work in the big city and you've never done it doesn't mean it's a dumb method. This is not a reconductor job, this is a complete replacement or rebuild. In rural areas where there is usually more room, this is a very common method of doing this type of work. It's fast, does not require a lot of extra equipment like hot arms, macs and coverup and it's a whole lot safer. You don't just push the poles over, you auger a hole down along the backside of the pole and then just lay the pole over at an angle. Don't have to put anyone up in the hot zone to install hot arms, untie energized conductor and move them over. Not adding extra weight and strain to old worn out crossarms. Just leave them on the old crossarm. Then since the old energized conductors are now out of the way you have all the room you need to safely set new, often taller poles, without having to go to all the trouble of installing and removing coverup and or pole guards at every pole location. Can also in most cases set the pole with the crossarm and other hardware already installed so framing in the hot zone is eliminated. Faster, more efficient and again much safer since no one has to work in hot zone. Then when all the poles are set the new conductor can be pulled in without having to worry about making contact with energized conductors. Can usually be pulled in much faster as you don't have to worry as much about the conductor bouncing or swaying into energized conductors. Tying in is simpler because again, you don't have to work in and around the energized old conductors. Often able to just ground and don't need rubber gloves or sleeves. Using wraplocks or armor rod? No problem, plenty of room to swing them around. Once new line is energized and loads transferred to it the old line is deengergized and can now be easily wrecked out. Since the old pole tops are away from energized line it is easy to drop or wind up the old conductor. The poles have already been loosened so it's an easy job to just go along the line and pluck them out and lay em on the ground. A little backfilling and your done. And no, obviously, you can't do this on every pole. Transformer banks, crossings, laterals and the like may still require use of hot arms, macs and the like. Since all the extra equipment is not needed for every pole it is also possible to rebuild much longer stretches of line at one time. Care still needs to be taken like on any job, particularly side clearance and ground conditions, but, all in all, this method can be a much faster and safer way to do rebuilds where conditions permit.

BTW, the flashing on the pole in the photo is an animal guard. In rural areas with populations of animals like racoons it is common to see this. Aluminum or plastic sheeting is often wrapped around the poles that have transformers, OCRs or similar types of grounded cases mounted on them. This prevents the racoons from being able to climb up the pole and getting on top of the transformer. Cause if a racoon can get up on the transformer and then touches the primary it's BOOM, lights out for both the racoon and the utility.