(Editor’s note: Here are some photos, text and a video shared by Hydro Ottawa, with background on Saturday’s pole-moving project on Maple Grove. Hydro Ottawa is proactively moving the poles to accomodate future road widening, currently slated for after 2013 in the City’s transportation master plan.)
Twenty-five employees, six contracting staff, 20 poles, 12 hours, one Pole Claw, one day. These are the numbers required to successfully complete hydro pole relocation on Maple Grove Road on Saturday, May 14, due to a road widening project.
This is not your “run-of-the-mill pole relocation” project. Crews worked from the Bell Sensplex to Huntmar Road on Maple Grove Road to set 20 poles in new holes and run ropes to prepare for stringing the overhead wires at a later date. The road was closed starting at 7 a.m. for that one kilometre stretch.
Hydro Ottawa crews set distribution poles along the north side of the street with a Pole Claw, an innovative and efficient method of setting poles with a heavy equipment “claw” that would otherwise take multiple personnel to safely accomplish.
Today on Maple Grove Rd, we relocated 20 poles in 12 hours for a road widening project. #Infrastructure #ottnews pic.twitter.com/ZYbnxLP41i
— Hydro Ottawa (@hydroottawa) May 14, 2016
.@wnb1958 Looks like a good day's work! @LinemanDaily #infrastructure #Ottawa pic.twitter.com/6esHHcJJru
— Hydro Ottawa (@hydroottawa) May 14, 2016
Something seems to be in the planning/execution because all the trees that lined Maple Grove at it’s eastern end, by the ball diamonds were cut down a couple of weeks ago. Widening would be nice but that just seems to be too much to wish for.
Hi Ian. The city says the trees along Maple Grove were taken out due to Emerald Ash Borer.
I don’t think Maple Grove needs to be wider, but it should have sidewalks so that residents have a safe connection from Fairwinds to Sens Plex, Walter Baker Park, and Terry Fox.
Some of the poles needed to be moved for the Kanata West Pumping Station works. The large pipes which were recently placed along the edge of the road will be going under the Carp River on the south side then to Terry Fox and down Katimavik to Eagleson. The City is not very good at letting the public know what is happening or when it will happen. Maple Grove needs to be widened sooner rather than later because the existing culvert over the Carp River needs to be replaced by a bridge