EV,
Mid-span taps are done here all the time, but they are usually very short and are slack spans to avoid placing any tension on the main span. It's very common in dense urban areas.
I never knew that, over here any overhead service line has to be attached to a pole cross-arm, via an insulator.
At least if something does catch the service line, the insulator will usually break, but the insulator bracket will take the force and hold the service line screening to prevent the Phase wire of the service being torn out of the fuse-holder on the pole cross-arm.
[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 03-09-2007).]
