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They stand silently, puncturing the landscape, rural, suburban, and urban, some 150 million wood utility poles, which carry power into our homes, connect us with humans on the other side of the planet, and enable our modern lifestyle. This is a bit of a photo essay showing some of the effort that goes into maintaining these ubiquitous structures.
The last few weeks, I had the chance to work with a Pole Inspection Foreman training crew of Osmose Utilities in the countryside around Harrisonburg, VA. There are actually 18 steps to the inspection process, as explained in the company's video, below; however, they can roughly be grouped into three macro steps: dig the hole, inspect the pole, and treat the pole.
The video makes the process seem far more straightforward than it actually is. Being a foreman or crew member on the inspection teams is far from an easy job. The hours are essentially sunrise to sunset, in all kinds of weather. We were in the hotel lobby each morning at 06:30 and usually worked eleven to twelve hours.
A crew member is usually transporting, via "farmer's carry," 40 to 60 pounds of gear consisting of weighted shovels, rock busting bars, tarps, clippers, buckets of various preservatives, brushes, chippers, hammers, computers, wraps, tags, etc. across all kinds of terrain, thru briar patches, thickets of poison oak or ivy, up and down hills, thru streams, cow pies, over gates, fences, and barbed wire - oh my!
Production crews will often inspect fifty or more poles a day, sometimes as many as 100. I think the most we did on the training crew in a day was thirty. Digging can be exhausting, especially when dealing with rocky soil or hardened clay. That said, it was truly amazing to watch our training foreman, or the two assistants, who were all in their early 20s excavate a pole. Using the weighed shovels, which are 25 to 30 pounds, as if they were nothing more than feathers, they could dig a pole in clean soil in a matter of minutes. They even made shortened work of the more difficult digs.
However, most of the poles we were tasked with were in downright insidious places or situations. Here are some of the more challenging ones my crew saw.
This was the third or fourth pole of my first day. We had to climb over two barbed wire fences, transverse down the gully, over the creek bed, and through the briar patch.
Later in the afternoon of the first day, we had to carefully work our way around this giant sink hole, which had consumed the old road that ran across the space. We estimated that it was about 150 feet deep.
Several old poles, such as this, were along the old road bed that the sink hole had destroyed.
A good estimate of the age of the pole is ten years prior to the earliest inspection tag. That means this pole was planted about 1964, making it nearly as old as your author!
On the second day, I excavated, dug, this pole solo, which took me the better part of an hour, thanks to the two giant rocks embedded against the wood, and the slope of the hill, which provided over a foot of difference in ground level between the back of the pole and the front. When excavating, the goal is to clear down to 18" to 22", below that the oxygen level is insufficient to promote fungus, rot, and decay. So the back of this dig was closer to three feet in depth. Note the amount of decay where the rocks had wedged against the pole; a root had also grown into the pole.
This pole was in the middle of a corn field. The two trees were in close proximity and, like so many others, we had to cut our way in before we could even think about digging!
The pole in the next three photos was next to the road and a stream. Note the grade of the hill and the tree that had grown right next to the pole. Because of the adjacent tree, this was only a partial excavation. Thankfully, this was the last pole of day three!
This next was a total pain to dig, not only because of the rocks and roots, but the clay dirt was dry as a bone, making it nearly as hard as rock itself! Note the vines that had grown into the wood. This was the last pole on the fourth day, we finished about 13:00 and headed home for a much needed rest.
This next set was taken on the fifth day, which was Monday, November 8, 2021.
The first shows some mechanical damage to a pole about five feet high, which was likely from a tractor running against the pole.
Next shows an all too uncommon situation, a fence, often of barbed wire, attached directly to the pole.
The inspector uses a triangular scraping tool to check for surface rot. He found some here.
So many poles were in hazardous terrain, surrounded by briars and vines, up hills, and over streams....
These last four are from day six, Tuesday, November 9, 2021.
The first is the same pole in the feature photo, after the inspector had only cleared away about half the vines at the base.
This pole was an easy dig. The ground was free of rock and it was partial excavation, due to the power riser taking the line underground. The property owner, like nearly all, was cordial and her livestock, while curious about us, kept their distance!
Then there was this one planted, which was at the edge of a spring feed stream. No digging on this one, just sounding and treatment.
This last pole was right next to a Cyprus tree. We had cleared limbs from two feet off the ground by the time I had a chance to take a moment and snap the photo. The ground was littered with rock and roots encircled the pole. Another partial and the last pole of the day!
The next time you see a utility pole, think about the crews who are out there every day, inspecting, treating, repairing, replacing, and planting new ones. Think about the crews who are running and fixing power, phone, and data lines. Think about the drivers who haul loads thru the middle of the night so the shelves are full - Port of LA issues notwithstanding. Think about the construction crews who build all the houses, roads, and offices. Think about the farmers out in the field at the crack of dawn. Think about all the folks who do the all jobs that most of us never want to have anything to do with.
The psychopathic idiots in DC, the UN, and WEF just don't get it. They want everyone to sit at home and write code or talk on Zoom all day. Well that can't happen. Someone has to get up and do all these other things. AI is not the solution. I seriously doubt that a robot will ever be able to get at some of these poles we had without getting tangled up and stuck in the thicket, falling into the sink hole, or touching a floating ground wire, all of which would render it useless. Mr. Global can put the Great Reset where the sun never shines and then eat some serious humble pie. Without all these hardworking folks, the world as we know it, or even as they would have it, simply would not run.
So, next time you see a a working crew of any kind, think about them busting their butts so you don't have to, and be grateful. Maybe even stop and and tell them, "Thank you."
While deeply grateful for the opportunity, the lessons learned, the comradery thru the few weeks, and some friendships made, at the end of six days on the job, I came to the conclusion that the sum of all the factors involved with being a Inspection Foreman did not add up to the circumstances I needed at this point in my life. It was not the work that was the primary factor, rather it was the aggregate situation that lead to my decision. That said, I have the deepest regard for these guys, it is not easy work. But it is honest and worthwhile with the potential to earn a very good living. Much respect gentlemen; and thank you.
Nonetheless, for myself, the search for the right situation continues...
Namaste, thanks for reading folks, and keep fighting the tyranny,
Mark
November 12, 2021
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Mark, I learned a lot about utility poles that I never would have known if you had not written this amazing essay, complete with the very interesting photos! Thank you once again for provoking thought and understanding in your unique way.