Seattle City Light crews working the poles in Ridgecrest

By Patty Hale

Seattle City Light crews were working the poles in Northcrest Park, located in the Ridgecrest Neighborhood. The poles supply electrical service to the residential homes on the east side of 8th Ave NE between NE 165th and NE 170th , and are the last of the original pole installation dating from 1946. A few months ago, new poles were planted side-by-side to the original poles. On Tuesday, July 10, the electrical service line was transferred from the old poles to the taller new ones by Ryan and Landon with the support of additional crew on the ground. Following the line transfer, the upper portion of the old pole is cut off. The next step will be for the remaining utilities (phone, cable, etc) to transfer their lines to the new pole. Procedure has it that the last utility to switch their lines over is the one responsible to remove the old pole. Now that’s what I call incentive to get the job done sooner rather than later!

Photos by Patty Hale.

Photo by Patty Hale

Picture 1   Landon (on the right) lifts what looks like a large orange rake - it actually is an orange plastic insallation sleeve used to cover and pick up the line to be transfered from one pole to the other.  The plastic does not conduct electricity.  Ryan on the left, puts the finishing touches to the horizontal safety device that protects the worker below should the line drop.                                                                     

Picture 2 – Ryan (on left) and Landon

Picture 3  - Landon pushes away on the top of the pole to keep the blade of the chainsaw from binding, while Ryan cuts off the top off the old pole.                                                          

Picture 4 - Success!