In Southeast Michigan, from what I’ve noticed, utility poles carrying electrical wires, phone wires, etc. are made of wood. On the other hand, light poles are made of metal. Why is one material used for one kind of pole and not the other? Or why not just use the same material for both?
In: Engineering
wood is cheap and nonconductive. light poles where the wires are stretched from pole to pole can be wood as well. but light poles where the wires go down into the ground need to be hollow because you don’t want the wires exposed to pedestrians, and that’s easier with metal since it still needs to be sturdy and thin (since they’re often placed by sidewalks that they’d otherwise block)
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