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Posted By: electure A Really Leaning Pole - 06/16/06 12:29 AM
A new customer called a while back, and asked us to straighten up a parking lot pole that had been "knocked out of plumb by a delivery truck". I grabbed a couple of big wrenches & levels, and went on my way.

It wasn't too difficult to find.

[Linked Image]

(and no this isn't after I finished [Linked Image])

The base was really done with real architectural creativity, but didn't fare too well from the little nudge either.


[Linked Image]

I think the decorator's motif on this base is called "30 Gallon Rubbermaid", or something like that.


[Linked Image]

It's being demoed tomorrow, what a shame [Linked Image]
Posted By: renosteinke Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/16/06 12:47 AM
Don't you wish everything was made like Rubbermaid?
Posted By: NORCAL Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/16/06 01:34 AM
Am I seeing correctly that a photocell is mounted on the 2 gang WP plate, or I am blind in one eye and cannot see out of the other? A Rubbermaid can was prob. cheaper then Sonotube,economy seems to outweigh quality.


BTW, did the pole survive or is it scrap?
Posted By: ShockMe77 Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/16/06 02:34 AM
Will you be replacing the entire concrete mount? I'm not sure what the name of that is. I have to assume that the threaded rods have to be replaced before the poll can be set again.
Posted By: ShockMe77 Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/16/06 02:35 AM
Oh, "30 Gallon Rubbermaid"

Now I get it!

D'oh!
Posted By: RODALCO Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/16/06 11:18 PM
Must have been hit by a Big Foot truck or so.
I don't think a family sedan would have caused the damage.
The threaded rods certainly will have to be replaced and possibly the concrete pedestal too, which may crack when the rods are drilled out.
The gangplate looks like it has a lightcell on it. Hopefully the cable is isolated from the supply.
Posted By: Scott35 Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/17/06 09:23 AM
Scott (Electure);

That Pole + "Base" and Tilt-Up, look kind of familiar!

Would this be in Orange, near the Stadium by chance?

I know I have seen that "Rubbermaid Substitution for A SONO-TUBE" base somewhere, and it had a 40' Lighting Standard attached to it also!
(but when I last saw it, the angle was within 90° by +/- 10°, or simply put - SANS ACCIDENT [Linked Image]...)

The last "Leaning Light Pole Via Automobile Scenario" I got to see was a 3 for 1 event!
Too bad the joker split immediately following the events, because I would have loved to see what the heck he was trying to do, if he was stoned, drunk or just stupid, and if this was intended (see description of event below for good laughs)

This guy starts off by first ramming into the base of a 14 foot Standard, with a single fixture attached to it.

This must have been unacceptable to him, as he immediately backed up, and repeated the procedure again - this time getting the car lined up so a Tire ran up the Parking Bumper, and gave enough front end lift to allow a direct hit to the Light Standard (Pole), which resulted in the pole springing backwards into Tree Branches, then slapping forward enough to snap the mounting base / bolts + washers loose - bringing the pole and fixture down on the car!
(the fixture set its self into the rear window).

Next, of course, comes Panic from the guy who Murdered the Light Pole; so now it's time to throw the car in reverse and floor it!

All is fine for about 3 seconds, until the car's out-of control trajectory brought it face to face with some very large sized Bollards!

Now the Back end of the car has dual matching hemispherical crush zones, with fragments of red paint scattered all around!

Just when you think "The Show Is Over", Mr. Bozo throws it into drive, and once again floors it.

With smoking, squealing tires, he side swipes a vacant parked car.
Waits a few seconds, flips off everyone watching (because we were all laughing our butts off by now!), then flies out of the parking lot - launching the light Pole from his car (as it rolls away during his high speed - semi sideways departure), and achieves final egress from the parking lot.

This event occurred in the parking lot where Food 4 Less, Taco Bell, Arby's and Burger King are located (apx. 2.5 miles west of Disneyland, on the street "named after the farmer's 2 daughters" - combine "Ella" and "Kate").

Just wanted to share this with everyone...

Scott35
Posted By: rad74ss Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/17/06 01:37 PM
Oh come on! Haven't you ever had problems trying to parallel park.
Posted By: briselec Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 06/17/06 11:09 PM
Quote
The threaded rods certainly will have to be replaced

A large piece of machinery ran over the cage bolts for one of the light poles in a car park I was doing and bent them over far more than those in the pic. The builder wanted me to just straighten them but I told him I wouldn't take the responsibility so he straightened them and got an engineer to inspect them and say they were ok to use. They've been holding a 7.5 metre pole up for nearly 2 years now.
Posted By: Trumpy Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 07/03/06 05:33 PM
Electure,
In the 3rd picture, we have the bolts really leaning over, why is that conduit still straight (assuming of course it was inside the pole and of course it's not a new piece)?.
Posted By: livetoride Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 07/09/06 10:09 PM
Kind of reminds me of the time my ex-wife pissed off the guy across the street. He kept knocking over the mail box. After the first two times my land lord fixed it he pored concrete in a 5 ga bucket to set the post to no avail. I had enough and drove 4 8' re bars halve way in and used a bucket like the landlord above the grade. Had a good laugh when the tow truck came to remove his Lincoln off my mail box post. Ok I am warped but it was funny. Rod
Posted By: electure Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 07/09/06 10:25 PM
The bolts weren't bent nearly as far over before pulled the fixtures off and let gravity lower the pole to the ground [Linked Image] We left 2 of them with the nuts on until the last thing to kind of control the descent.

Scott, this is in Arcadia.

[This message has been edited by electure (edited 08-03-2006).]
Posted By: Alan Belson Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 07/09/06 11:23 PM
livetoride; Poles & posts sometimes win! We had a similar problem when we lived in England. Our adversary was the hopping young 'erbert who drove the parish garbage-collection truck. After privatisation, the contractor put a bigger truck on our rural route to save money - less trips to the incinerator. Problem was, we lived down a typical narrow English country lane, and this goon drove over my wife's flower garden every week as he negotiated the corner too fast. Polite v. English "Here, I say old chap," pleas to the driver, the contractor & the council officers and placing some white painted stones on the lane verge all fell on deaf ears, so I sledged about 6 x 4 foot by 1" diameter mild steel bars ["borrowed" from the machine shop stores!] into the roadside bank, cunningly hidden between the stones. The next week, Mad Max ripped the rear axle clean off the springs of a brand new vehicle as infinite force met immoveable object!
That cured it!
But the driver wanted revenge. A few weeks later he drove past at speed and [ I think deliberately ] clipped the stone cap of one of our gate posts. This 4000lb, 18th century edifice consisted of blocks of dressed Forest of Dean limestone, 2'6" square and a foot thick laid on a massive concrete and engineering brick footing. My sons and I had rebuilt it a few years earlier using a forklift, so it had good 1-3 cement joints, plus we had buried a steel joist in the adjoining stone wall to carry the gate loads. It was about 8 foot high, and the 'cap' was a 3 foot square "pyramid" weighing about 500lb. The wrought-iron gates needed 4 blokes just to lift them onto their hinge pins. Needless to say a flimsey truck was no match, and the side of it peeled off like a ruddy sardine can! Funny, never saw him again for some reason! [Linked Image]

Alan
Posted By: frenchelectrican Re: A Really Leaning Pole - 07/10/06 03:55 AM
Now that remind me few crazy events along the way too. but this is true but crazy,

when i was working on one shop and one guy fixed the mail box make it so strong he ran half dozen rebars i belive they were 1/2 inch size and pour cement in ground to make it hidden some way and top of the cement is the old milk tank the old farmer used that before and he filled cement and tied few more rebars inside of it.

now get this in winter time when i was working on the coumster's shop i can heard a crash rather pretty loud and see a big county plow truck got damaged pretty good it took the plow right off the truck and damged the truck to some degrees bear in mind this county truck weight in over 50,000 lbs and the driver was ticked off with it and found out the owner poured cement and reforced it very well to the point you have to use the D-9 bulldozer just push it off the earth.

I was amused to see how much damaged it did cause

the damge to the truck
Main plow
Wing plow
3 tires blew out
broken driveshaft
broken pto shaft
bent frame

all this damage this person did he have to pay the county new plow truck it cost over 90K bucks btw

the other event i did see was a semi truck make a wrong turn and knock off the light post like toothpick bear in your mind this post have pretty deep base 5 foot in ground and 3 more above ground line and it did bent right the heck out of it.

we got called to get this post straghen out i told the owner of that place better off just blow that base out and make new one to advoid a mess there

Merci , Marc
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