BC Hydro is replacing 257 old wooden power poles in Surrey this year, and more than 8,000 province-wide.
This is part of its maintenance program, as more than 10 per cent of the poles are at least 50 years old. The average lifespan of these wooden poles is 40 to 50 years old, and according to a BC Hydro information bulletin, one of the oldest is in the Lower Mainland and was erected in 1931 – eight years before the Second World War began.
BC Hydro has some 900,000 wooden power poles supporting more than 58,000 kilometres of overhead wires and 278,000 transformers.
Over time, weather, insects and other wildlife take their toll on the poles and as crews replace them, BC Hydro may disconnect the power for safety reasons and says it will notify customers either in person, by mail or phone prior to a scheduled outage.
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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