Pretty Cool Power Poles - Laminated Wood

[DerbyDad03]

I was traveling on the NYS Thruway (I-90) in western NY this afternoon. They've
turned one of the old Erie Canal locks (52) into a rest stop of sorts. More
like an historical park, with an audio tour app and a few restored buildings
from the early 1900's. Pretty neat place to stop compared to your normal
highway service area.

Along one of the walkways were 3 power poles made of laminated wood. I wish
I had thought to add something to give a sense of scale, but I forgot. Just consider the fact that the wires from these poles ran to the other side of
thruway (seen in the background) so you can imagine how large they are.

The poles are rectangular and tapered.

https://i.imgur.com/V7ZJkOn.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/tfVIf54.jpg

[Sonny]

That is interesting. I suppose they are creosote treated.... I wonder what kind of glue was used, for the laminates, such that the creosote didn't affect the glue's adhesion.

On a side note: I'd be tempted to inquire about their possible future replacement, with the idea of salvaging them, possibly for reusing them for deck/shed flooring support/beams, posts or similar uses. After widening the road, here, the construction crew forgot about 2 repleced telephone poles laying off to the side, hidden in tall grass/weeds. I called the city about them, I wanting to salvage them. At the time, I needed to quickly build an overhang onto the shop, to store a cache of inherited lumber. The city crew not only fetched the poles for me, but cut the poles to length. Here's my overhang storage - scroll left for another pic with the inherited cherry lumber:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/4034835602/in/dateposted-public/

Those laminated poles look better than typical round poles, no matter what their use.

Sonny

[Leon]

Pretty darn cool! I suspect they were laminated so that they would not
bend so much over time, given the fact that they have no guy wires and
terminate the straight line of the lines into a 90 degree turn.

I used the car in the second Pic for scale. Looks like the girth of the
poles may be about 30 feet. LOL...

Actually they look to be 24~30 inches in diameter.

[dpb]

On 6/8/2018 8:10 AM, Sonny wrote:
> On Thursday, June 7, 2018 at 11:37:28 PM UTC-5, DerbyDad03 wrote:

...

>> Along one of the walkways were 3 power poles made of laminated wood. I wish
>> I had thought to add something to give a sense of scale, but I forgot. Just consider the fact that the wires from these poles ran to the other side of
>> thruway (seen in the background) so you can imagine how large they are.
>>
>> The poles are rectangular and tapered.
>>
>> https://i.imgur.com/V7ZJkOn.jpg
>>
>> https://i.imgur.com/tfVIf54.jpg
>
> That is interesting. I suppose they are creosote treated.... I wonder what kind of glue was used, for the laminates, such that the creosote didn't affect the glue's adhesion.
>

...

I strongly expect they're treated after the glue-up, not before...

--

[dpb]

On 6/7/2018 11:37 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

...

> Along one of the walkways were 3 power poles made of laminated wood. ...

Any indication how long they had been in place? Would be interesting to
revisit in 10 and 20 years to see if hold up...while undoubtedly better
(for some nebulous definition) adhesive than used; I've never had any
finger-joint or glued-up exterior material even painted hold up to the
weather in exterior use. Be interesting to see if these will match or
outlast the real thing...

--

[DerbyDad03]

I think they are bigger than that but it'll be a while before I pass that
way again. I want to bring SWMBO to see the area, so I'll will go back.

[DerbyDad03]

I didn't think to ask the volunteer guide that was hanging out in the
saloon.

https://i.imgur.com/42JGVQg.jpg

You see the blacksmith shop next to the saloon? Here's a picture of it
from back in the old days. The same guy owned both establishments, just
a few yards off the tow path for the canal.

Smart guy!

https://i.imgur.com/LYz9O4Z.jpg

[Sonny]

On Friday, June 8, 2018 at 9:07:02 AM UTC-5, dpb wrote:

>
> I strongly expect they're treated after the glue-up, not before...

Right. That's what I was thinking. Subsequent to the glue-up, I wondered about the creosote treatment, if creosote, affecting the adhesion.

As to others' comments, I had assumed the poles were original to the old Erie Canal locks, and not something new, hence, their being reinstalled as part & party to the rest stop/"park", for the purpose of their preservation, assuming there are only 3 (remaining?) poles, assuming no others are installed anywhere else.

If they are original to the locks and no others exist, the rest stop folks should place a plaque stating so.

Sonny

[Scott Lurndal]

http://www.ldm.com/laminatedpoles.html

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

>
>>> Along one of the walkways were 3 power poles made of laminated wood.

>>> Just consider the fact that the wires from these poles ran to the other side of
>>> thruway (seen in the background) so you can imagine how large they are.
>>> The poles are rectangular and tapered.
>>>
>>> https://i.imgur.com/V7ZJkOn.jpg
>>>
>>> https://i.imgur.com/tfVIf54.jpg
>>
>> That is interesting. I suppose they are creosote treated....
>> I wonder what kind of glue was used, for the laminates, such that the
>>creosote didn't affect the glue's adhesion.
>>
>

>I strongly expect they're treated after the glue-up, not before...
>

A couple links, for your reading enjoyment :

http://www.ldm.com/laminatedpoles.html

http://tinyurl.com/y8c7xrwt

John T.

[hub...@ccanoemail.ca]

>
>http://www.ldm.com/laminatedpoles.html




.... " great minds .... " :-)

John T.

[Larry Kraus]

We started seeing laminated poles in this area about ten years ago.
They seemed to be used mostly in locations requiring very large (height
and/or diameter) poles. I suspect it's become very hard and expensive to
find quality trees in these sizes. Cheaper and easier to work with than
the metal or concrete alternatives.

[-MIKE-]

They can also be pre-stressed for installations in which they are under
a lot of pull pressure and it would be difficult to install guy wires.

Sort of like what they do with concrete structures in which they
pretension cables in the concrete.


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
www.mikedrums.com

[dpb]

On 6/7/2018 11:37 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:

...

> Along one of the walkways were 3 power poles made of laminated wood. I wish
> I had thought to add something to give a sense of scale, but I forgot. Just consider the fact that the wires from these poles ran to the other side of
> thruway (seen in the background) so you can imagine how large they are.
>
> The poles are rectangular and tapered.
>
> https://i.imgur.com/V7ZJkOn.jpg
>
> https://i.imgur.com/tfVIf54.jpg

Shape may make difference in resonances--in some areas of US utilities
have issues with woodpeckers "topping" poles causing them to fail under
ice or wind.

EPRI funded some research from which appeared that some frequencies
generated are in similar range of certain insects that they feed on so
they're convinced there's a meal there if just dig far enough...

I doubt had any bearing on the actual folks making these but when did
the research hadn't as yet seen anything quite like these in use.

--

[Brewster]

On 6/8/18 7:10 AM, Sonny wrote:

> On a side note: I'd be tempted to inquire about their possible future replacement, with the idea of salvaging them, possibly for reusing them for deck/shed flooring support/beams, posts or similar uses. After widening the road, here, the construction crew forgot about 2 repleced telephone poles laying off to the side, hidden in tall grass/weeds. I called the city about them, I wanting to salvage them. At the time, I needed to quickly build an overhang onto the shop, to store a cache of inherited lumber. The city crew not only fetched the poles for me, but cut the poles to length. Here's my overhang storage - scroll left for another pic with the inherited cherry lumber:
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/4034835602/in/dateposted-public/
>
> Those laminated poles look better than typical round poles, no matter what their use.
>
> Sonny
>

Uhh, You suck!
-BR

[Sonny]

On Saturday, June 9, 2018 at 9:14:46 AM UTC-5, Brewster wrote:
> On 6/8/18 7:10 AM, Sonny wrote:
>
> > On a side note: I'd be tempted to inquire about their possible future replacement, with the idea of salvaging them, possibly for reusing them for deck/shed flooring support/beams, posts or similar uses. After widening the road, here, the construction crew forgot about 2 repleced telephone poles laying off to the side, hidden in tall grass/weeds. I called the city about them, I wanting to salvage them. At the time, I needed to quickly build an overhang onto the shop, to store a cache of inherited lumber. The city crew not only fetched the poles for me, but cut the poles to length. Here's my overhang storage - scroll left for another pic with the inherited cherry lumber:
> > https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/4034835602/in/dateposted-public/

> > Sonny
> >
>
>
> Uhh, You suck!
> -BR

Yeah, I know. I lucked out, as to this "inheritance". When in upholstery school, Jay's, an elderly classmate, BIL passed away. Tom was an engineer and had a nice 50s-60s vintage shop. He had no heirs and Jay's family didn't want any of his movable property. Jay asked if I would like to have Tom's shop, tools, storage shed contents, etal. Among the lumber was walnut and white oak, as well. When all was said and done, I presented Jay with a little dedication to Tom, "The Best Friend I Never Met".

This entertainment center is the first project I made with the cherry, presently in my home. The two end curved doors, for the base, are yet to be made. I tried making curved doors and I can't get them quite right, fitting each in their spaces AND matching one another, yet. I suppose it's time to try again. I may evaluate things, again, to see if tambour doors would be best, though I had always though solid doors. I've never made a tambour door. https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/5962129559/in/dateposted-public/

I made 2 smallish (24" X 30") bathroom corner cabinets with some of the walnut.... I don't have pics of those.

On a side note, Jay was a really nice lady. Her dog died and she adopted a rescued dog from the local animal shelter. She asked if I would build her a dog house. I think she had in mind a typical dog house. This is the house I gave her, with her new puppy, scroll right for one more pic.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/4035185439/in/dateposted-public/

Sonny

[Spalted Walt]

Sonny <cedar...@aol.com> wrote:

> On Friday, June 8, 2018 at 9:07:02 AM UTC-5, dpb wrote:
>
>>
>> I strongly expect they're treated after the glue-up, not before...
>
> Right. That's what I was thinking. Subsequent to the glue-up,
> I wondered about the creosote treatment, if creosote, affecting the adhesion.

According to this brief video, one manufacturer, LWS, uses Penta
(pentachlorophenol) for its preservative:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1wY7J8ETJk

I remember as a kid in the `50s & `60s the unmistakable smell of
Creosote being a pretty common thing, especially during the hot
summer months. That once familiar odor has now disappeared. I
wonder if it is still used at all anymore?

[Colin Campbell]

On Sun, 10 Jun 2018 06:39:05 -0700, Sonny wrote:


> On a side note, Jay was a really nice lady. Her dog died and she
> adopted a rescued dog from the local animal shelter. She asked if I
> would build her a dog house. I think she had in mind a typical dog
> house. This is the house I gave her, with her new puppy, scroll right
> for one more pic.
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/43836144@N04/4035185439/in/dateposted-
public/
>
> Sonny

Pretty palatial premises for a properly pampered pooch, pal!

Colin

[dpb]

On 6/10/2018 10:50 AM, Spalted Walt wrote:
...

> I remember as a kid in the `50s & `60s the unmistakable smell of
> Creosote being a pretty common thing, especially during the hot
> summer months. That once familiar odor has now disappeared. I
> wonder if it is still used at all anymore?

...

No, we have a "veritable plethora" of essentially useless replacements
now since EPA banned it for everything except commercial registered use.

"Currently, creosote is used for commercial purposes only; it has no
registered residential uses. Creosote is a restricted use pesticide that
can be used in outdoor settings such as in railroad ties and utility
poles. Indoor applications of creosote are prohibited as well as
application to wood intended for use in interiors or for use in contact
with food, feed, or drinking water."

Can't find a fence post that will last much over five years even, any
more where have 60+ yr old in pasture that are still serviceable. Part
is the sorry-axx wood they use but mostly it's lack of any serviceable
treatment.

--

[J. Clarke]

I would like to see a Constitutional Amendment to the effect that the
government can't ban anything until they have a substitute that is
proven by multiple independently replicated experiment to work as
well, and if no such exists but the ban must go through anyway, the
government is permanently liable for any resulting costs to the
individual, but that taxes could not be increased in proportion. I
suspect that if that latter provision was made retroactive we'd see a
lot of stuff come back.