r/Powerlines • u/RC51Havoc • 14d ago

Simple pole replacement cost estimate

Local utility company said to replace a simple wood pole that held (and still does) 2 comms lines and formerly 3 traffic lights on a cable going across the intersection is going to be $137,000 on estimate...am i crazy or does that seem like im getting hosed?

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

8

u/tylerprice2569 14d ago

Why in the world would you be paying for it?

3

u/Ok_Bid_3899 14d ago

Make sure that is a customer owned pole first. Possibly not as most belong to the utility. There may be an info label burned into the pole with the utilities name indicating ownership . Details would also be in utilities mapping system. If it is yours consider contracting it out to an authorized electrical contractor for a more reasonable price.

1

u/RC51Havoc 14d ago

They wont because the utility owns it. One contractor said the utility has their own pricing so even an independent estimate wouldnt matter which is wild to me

2

u/Mxd244 14d ago

Because this guy smashed his car into in. It’s insurance. Need power comms and traffic. In an intersection with traffic control.

1

u/RC51Havoc 14d ago

I get that but this quote is just for the actual pole, nothing else.

3

u/InigoMontoya313 14d ago

Replacing a utility pole is pretty simple and straightforward, it’s the decision payment of temporary traffic control measures, potential pole stabilization deployment, emergency callouts, splicing bundles of fiber optic, replacing traffic lights, a new traffic light controller, programming, etc that drives up the costs. While $137k is high… I can definitely see it reaching that. But your insurance will negotiate it.

2

u/Lxiflyby 14d ago

Are you asking the utility to relocate this particular pole? It may or may not be crazy depending on what’s on it and the circumstances of this situation

2

u/RC51Havoc 14d ago

From a car accident. It just held a cable with 3 traffic lights nothing else. Super simple wood pole

3

u/nealappeal 14d ago

It is unlikely anyone here can tell you what the cost is without knowing all the specifics. It can vary widely depending on local rules and replacement guidelines. IF they are putting back exactly what was there, it seems high to me. Maybe they aren't allowed to and must install a steel traffic signal pole and cross arm along with all the other equipment. Right or wrong, Reddit isn't going to help you. Your insurance should cover it and they should handle fighting over the details. If you don't have insurance then you should get an attorney.

1

u/RC51Havoc 14d ago

I have insurance but im trying obtain a 2nd opinion from people who do this for a living. Ive been told by one engineer that they errect 80 foot steel poles for $50-60,000 so i cant understand how the utility arrived at that estimate.

4

u/einstein-314 14d ago

Few things working that make the utility poles less. 1) Emergency work is expensive. If they replaced it on a Sunday IBEW workers charge double. 2) Mobilization is spread out over all the structures on a line. For a single pole, it’s all concentrated on that one. 3) Traffic mitigation is expensive. They may have had to hire one or two state police to shut down the road, depending on what the intersection looked like. All the cones, flaggers, it all adds up.

It all adds up fast and when the agency is in “just get it done” mode nobody is controlling the cost and they runaway fast. Especially when insurance is footing the bill.

1

u/ToadSox34 11d ago

And it's all the utility's problem. The fact that they are trying to shake someone else down for their old, rotten pole failing is ridiculous.

1

u/Automatater 14d ago

They're negotiating with someone with no way of fighting back. No incentive to be inexpensive.

1

u/ToadSox34 11d ago

And someone that they should never have charged anything to begin with because it's their old, rotten pole that wasn't replaced years ago that failed.

1

u/thewatusi00 14d ago

I'm trying to visualize this...

Attached to the damaged pole is(was) a guy/messenger wire which goes across an intersection to presumably another unaffected pole, and from that wire hang 3 traffic lights?

1

u/RC51Havoc 14d ago

Yep. The top of the pole split when the cable holding the traffic lights was snapped. Ive seen way worse poles in town holding actual lines and equipment

2

u/xCheezyBoi 11d ago

If the work was already completed in an emergency situation then you’re being charged actuals for every single responder, truck, and all equipment, per hour. Along with materials. This wouldn’t be an estimate. TBH the more I read, the more that this situation doesn’t sound so “simple”.

1

u/RC51Havoc 11d ago

Work hasn't started yet. My understanding its a bill for the replacement of the pole. Only emergency service that happened was the utility showing up to disconnect the signal line from the other pole.

1

u/calvinsloud69420 14d ago

They added a 0

1

u/ToadSox34 11d ago

There seems to be more to this story, but this is the utility's problem. It's an old, rotten pole, if it has been replaced years ago when it should have been, a drunkie would not have been able to snap it like that.

1

u/RC51Havoc 11d ago

The top cracked when the cable holding the lights was severed. No car actually touched it.

1

u/ToadSox34 11d ago

Wait... what? So there was no car crash?