Watch where you park

[Barry Wolk]

Just saying'

[keiser31]

NICE! Is that one you had to fix?

[Bleach]

I guess I won't complain about bird *hit next time.

[Barry Wolk]

NICE! Is that one you had to fix?

It's one of hundreds of thousands that need to be replaced. Accidents waiting for a place to happen.

[keiser31]

Looks like that Michigan rust ate it from the inside out.

[Barry Wolk]

Michigan has nothing to do with it. They rot out from the inside because there's no place for moisture to go. This happens all over the country.

Here's the letter that's going out to the facility managers of this employer.

Years ago Detroit Edison embarked on a streetlight pole replacement program due to the very problem being experienced at various XXXXX Systems properties today. The problem is rust. Some of your light poles are literally being eaten away, from the inside. The problem is that you can't see the problem until it is too late.

The problem exists because it was common practice 30 years ago to install the flat steel base of the pole on top of the concrete pedestal. In many cases they are caulked in place. What wan't realized is that dew forms on the inside of the cold steel pole causing rust to form. Rust flakes fall to the bottom and are trapped. Moisture gets replenished every day from dew until the rust flakes build up enough to come in contact with the thin material of the pole. That's where the integrity of the pole is diminished by moisture from the debris, which you can see in the picture below.

This problem is dramatically reduced by simply providing a space between the steel base and the top of the pedestal. This allows moisture to escape and allows the inside of the to dry itself when the sun hit the pole, warming the air inside. The warm air rises and draws in fresh air at the new gap drying the inside of the pole daily.

Unfortunately, the damage is already done to poles installed in this manner and it's only a matter of time before they are so weak that they fall over. We could lift every pole and transport it for sand-blasting to remove rust and then gauge what's left, but the cost of transporting, sand-blasting, repairing, refinishing and reinstalling cost more than new poles. Pole replacement only applies to steel poles, as aluminum poles don't rust, but should have spacers installed to keep the steel parts from rusting.

We would visit each site and take a count of the number of poles and take measurements of pole heights and base bolt patterns. New poles would be installed with proper spacing and new base bolt covers for a renewed appearance. Steel covers rust and people steal aluminum covers, so manufactures have gone to UV stable plastic covers for appearance and longevity.

If you have immediate concerns please contact us and we will schedule your site sooner than others that are newer or have a lower risk.

Barry

[keiser31]

Looks like "job security" for you.

[K8096]

I bet the scrappers took care of it in short order after it fell.

[Barry Wolk]

Looks like "job security" for you.

Who needs it, I'm trying to retire.

[Peter J.Heizmann]

Just saying'

Very true. Watch where you park an "antique vehicle" especially.

[Guest billybird]

This very same thing has happened in a Tractor Supply lot in my town.

[Guest Skyking]

That's nothing compared to Rhode Island bridges. The whole country is falling apart!!!

[JACK M]

The fact that they are light pole may have something to do with the corrosion.

I had a boat customer one time that chained his new aluminum boat to a light pole for a winter and it had so much galvanic corrosion in the spring that it wouldn't float any more.

[Barry Wolk]

The fact that they are light pole may have something to do with the corrosion.

I had a boat customer one time that chained his new aluminum boat to a light pole for a winter and it had so much galvanic corrosion in the spring that it wouldn't float any more.

Nope, the poles are earth grounded through a copper ground wire and an 8-foot ground stake, required by code. Poles properly spaced off the concrete don't rot. Cause and effect. It's really that simple.

It's like the drain holes on the '60s Lincolns. Great care was put into the design of the drainage system only to be fouled by rust flakes and dirt clogging the drains. As is in this case, the Lincolns all rotted from the inside-out because the water had no where to go.

[Barry Wolk]

The fact that they are light pole may have something to do with the corrosion.

I had a boat customer one time that chained his new aluminum boat to a light pole for a winter and it had so much galvanic corrosion in the spring that it wouldn't float any more.

I thought further about your statement and think I understand how that happened to the boat. It became like a sacrificial anode on a water heater. Poor boat.

[Paul Dobbin]

Same thing happens to many cars when the weep holes in the bottom of the doors & quarter panels plug up. Porsches and VW's were especially prone to that, but American cars do it too. One reaso I alway check the bottom of doors on anything old that I buy.

[JACK M]

I thought further about your statement and think I understand how that happened to the boat. It became like a sacrificial anode on a water heater. Poor boat.

Thats how I had it figured too.

[Barry Wolk]

We've found about a hundred badly rusted poles, so far, just within three properties. This fell because a plow pushed some snow up against the pole.

The metal is rusted so thin it has a knife edge and folded like paper. :eek:

Watch where you park.

The glop is real wet rust flakes that had piled up 3" deep and rotted the pole from the inside.

You can see how the metal just folded up.

With a tape measure for reference. Not even a 32nd of an inch thick.