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.
st consider the fact that the wires from these poles ran to the other side of
That is interesting. I suppose they are creosote treated.... I wonder wh at 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 rep lacement, with the idea of salvaging them, possibly for reusing them for de ck/shed flooring support/beams, posts or similar uses. After widening the road, here, the construction crew forgot about 2 repleced telephone poles l aying off to the side, hidden in tall grass/weeds. I called the city abou t 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 cit y crew not only fetched the poles for me, but cut the poles to length. He re's my overhang storage - scroll left for another pic with the inherited cherry lumber:
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Those laminated poles look better than typical round poles, no matter what their use.
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.
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...
I didn't think to ask the volunteer guide that was hanging out in the saloon.
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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.
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 Er ie Canal locks, and not something new, hence, their being reinstalled as pa rt & party to the rest stop/"park", for the purpose of their preservation, assuming there are only 3 (remaining?) poles, assuming no others are instal led anywhere else.
If they are original to the locks and no others exist, the rest stop folks should place a plaque stating so.
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.
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.
replacement, with the idea of salvaging them, possibly for reusing them fo r deck/shed flooring support/beams, posts or similar uses. After widening the road, here, the construction crew forgot about 2 repleced telephone pol es 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 b uild 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 inherit ed cherry lumber:
Yeah, I know. I lucked out, as to this "inheritance". When in upholster y school, Jay's, an elderly classmate, BIL passed away. Tom was an enginee r and had a nice 50s-60s vintage shop. He had no heirs and Jay's family di dn'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 waln ut and white oak, as well. When all was said and done, I presented Jay wit h a little dedication to Tom, "The Best Friend I Never Met".
This entertainment center is the first project I made with the cherry, pres ently in my home. The two end curved doors, for the base, are yet to be ma de. 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.
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I made 2 smallish (24" X 30") bathroom corner cabinets with some of the wal nut.... 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 h er a dog house. I think she had in mind a typical dog house. This is th e house I gave her, with her new puppy, scroll right for one more pic.
According to this brief video, one manufacturer, LWS, uses Penta (pentachlorophenol) for its preservative:
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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.
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.
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