Got my utility pole & Service disconnect approved by the Utility Company and all my poles in to cross the swamp. Just have to get 500 feet of wire and string it up across the swamp to my spec house.
I ended up making a boardwalk across the swamp to make the install easier. Turned out there were some areas of the swamp that were deeper than knee deep.:-O
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What kind of poles did you install in the swamp? What keeps them from rotting off in a few years?
For sale: 3BR,2 bath,CA,attached garage with swamp
Jim
> What kind of poles did you install in the swamp? What keeps them from rotting off in a few years?
the swamp poles are three 2x4x16 pressure treated glued and nailed. the other dry-land poles are three 2x6x16' PT.
Not sure how long they will last in standing water (mud) but there be some maintenance involved, since it is essentially a private power line with a disconnect at the meter. in the winter it's a snap to snowshoe out and drive in new poles in the muck. I think a 16 foot pole would never hit bottom, so it required some cribbing to keep them from slowly sinking.
holy - think Moat
> For sale: 3BR,2 bath,CA,attached garage with swamp
Ammo up, blow out the 24" culvert and it's essentially an island w/ moat on one side and steep ledges on the other.
Just curious, Have you calculated the voltage drop for 220v at that distance? I'm no electrician but it seems to me the voltage drop may be excessive.
James
How's this voltage drop !
Services in informal housing sectors are non existent in many parts here, but electricity is easily pirated from nearby networks and many illegal power lines are strung over the roads on anything that will hold up a few wires.
Working in these areas with an extended prism pole is not possible as the risk of shock is so high. The number of accidents and even deaths due to live wires falling to the ground is also very high.
There are major electrification programs on the go to improve this situation but I don't have a photo of the finished product, but it is an improvement.
Here are some pictures taken in Lwandle, Cape Town a few winters ago, the excavators are there to clean out the stormwater detention ponds, which besides filling up with refuse, also have informal houses built in them, the residents know that by doing so they stand a good chance of being relocated to a better site.
If you go in Goggle maps to the address of Potsdam road & usasaza roads , cape town , south africa and look in google street view, you will see what crosses the main roads, although this site is about to get upgraded so will not be like this for long. 
Lee
James
> Just curious, Have you calculated the voltage drop for 220v at that distance? I'm no electrician but it seems to me the voltage drop may be excessive.
>
> James
1/0 wire is generally used for 100 amp service with a limit of about 300 feet. Since my total run will be 476 feet, I am bumping the wire up to 2/0. This puts my voltage drop at 6.6% under full current. At 80 amps or less, I drop below the desired 5% voltage drop. I anticipate typical operating amperage of this house to be around 30 amps.
My house right now has 200 amp service with a 400 foot run on 4/0 aluminum wire which has a 8.6% voltage drop at full 200 amp current.
How's this voltage drop !
I'm guessing no treated poles or voltage drop calcs in those installations.
