WTF?

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

Someone has been getting really creative with the telephone wiring in my neighborhood. There are some other similarly amusing/frightening installations nearby, but this is clearly the winner.

Is there some sort of dispute in progress between the town and utilities? Is this just business as usual? I haven't seen work like this since visiting Nigeria:

Comments

[ron_newman]

Where is this? (the first photo, not the second)

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

Corner of Hancock and Windsor, IIRC.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

typical for emergency replacement (someone hit the original pole) for instance, a patch job. they USUALLY come back and do more/better, but they don't want to say, drop power on a neighborhood during peak hours, or some such.

#

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

This one seems to be due to sidewalk work...which you'd think could be scheduled in advance?

Not that I'm really complaining, it's pretty damn funny to watch people's reactions walking under it.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

when it comes to utilities vs city planning... don't think ;)

i would guess that Someone decided to rip up the sidewalk, and gave the utility people less than 48 hours notice. on a weekend. so it goes :)

i've seen worse. heck, i MIGHT have photos around here. mmm.

#

Mod Note

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Please put the bulk of this post behind a cut using "<lj-cut>". Thanks.

(And also, yeah, seriously. I've wondered about those myself.)

Re: Mod Note

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

Wow, way to jump on me the instant I post before I can fix the formatting..sorry I am a little out of practice at LJ tags. Give a guy 2 min!

Re: Mod Note

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

It's a reflex. Some people either don't know or seem to be utterly allergic to cuts.

Re: Mod Note

[ron_newman]

Looks OK to me -- small photo before cut, big (less relevant) photo after it.

Re: Mod Note

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Yep, it was fixed after I commented, as per the OP's courteous response.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

The city put in the new poles with the new sidewalk, but each utility has to come and move the cables to the new pole itself, the city doesn't do that.

Given that we're talking phone company, electric company, and two cable companies, it will be a while until the old pole can be removed.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

To the OP, yes, chenoameg is correct. It looks funny, but that is really the only way transferring utilities to a new pole can happen.

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

This sounds reasonable when you put it that way. But I'll just direct your attention back to the photo above. ;)

I'd love to know who is responsible for these, I can't help feeling some are being engineered with a touch of deliberate humor.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Think it through.

Service interruptions are a big deal, utility-wise. With that in mind, when a utility pole is damaged, what would your plan be for maintaining the pole without interrupting service? Bear in mind that moving the wiring causes the aforementioned service interruption. Wiring to another, different pole and then switching over service also still causes a service interruption.

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

When every utility pole in a two-block radius is simultaneously damaged, I would ask myself, "who is damaging them?" ;P

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

The pole was not damaged, it was replaced along with other poles on the street.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

Ah! Makes even more sense, then. If there's no other pole to emergency route to because they're all being replaced.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

There's one of those on North st near my place. It's been that way for the 2 years I've lived here...

[mderidder.livejournal.com]

Bob Trane got all hot a bothered about this a while ago. Doesn't seem like much has changed...

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x2118741713/Trane-guides-tour-of-double-poles-in-Somerville

http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/archive/x2118736468/Trane-Problem-with-double-telephone-poles-persists

[artguychris.livejournal.com]

I remember hearing about this becoming a problem several years ago. The city stopped issuing permits for new work until the utilities fixed the double poles.

[smammy]

Quick question: what's the problem with these? Just unsightliness? Or am I missing something?

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

Please see the second photo for an explanation of the problem with not following the directions when setting up your telephone pole. ;)

[m00n.livejournal.com]

They've got nothin' on Bangkok ;-)

[m00n.livejournal.com]

And this one is actually kind of unusual in that all of the wires are more or less above eye-level. :-)

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

I have seen one of these on Gordon st. off of North st and it's been there for sometime.

The Official Tree of Somerville, Massachusetts

[fefie.livejournal.com]

"Someone has been getting really creative with the telephone wiring in my neighborhood. "

I've got an old (~10 yrs old) postcard on my bulletin board of photo liek that (the first one), with the title "The Official Tree of Somerville, Massachusetts".

Re: The Official Tree of Somerville, Massachusetts

[aki.livejournal.com]

We are the Tree City, right?

[ron_newman]

What happened to your first photo? I get 'Forbidden' when LJ tries to display it.

[bitvoid.livejournal.com]

Oh. I think I just uploaded it to LJ, but then my paid account expired and they deleted it, maybe?

I'm sure I still have the photo somewhere, but I dunno if it's worth reposting.

Amusingly, it still has not been fixed. I'm kinda surprised it survived the winter, but I guess we haven't had a really good ice storm.