Do you have a BT Telegraph Pole on your property?

organic_choc

I bought my property back in 2005 and there is a BT telegraph pole in my backyard. I never thought much of it until this Spring when there was lots of strong winds and rains in Scotland, my 20 yr old garden fence which sits only 3 feet away from the pole fell over because of the winds.

So I started worrying about "what if" the BT pole falls over? Throughout the 6 years I have lived here, no one has ever came to check if the pole is alright. Whether it is stable, and whether the wood hasn't rotted. The only route to access the pole is through my front door - so no one has ever checked the pole for at least 6 years.

I called Open Reach (0800 023 2023). The guy who answered the phone told me that they are behind in checking poles. I asked him how often are they suppose to check up on poles, he refused to say. I asked him how much behind they are in checking poles, he again refused to say.

He did mention that there is a number on the pole, where an engineer will be able to tell you when the pole was last checked. But when I ask him if I tell him the number, can he tell me when the pole was last checked then he got a bit pesky. He said he can't tell me because he can't see the pole (?!?) and I said to him, well I can see the pole and I can read the number to you, then he said he needs the number on the plate on the number (?!?!?) and only engineers can work that out. It made no sense but I let it go because (I thought) he was deliberately being obtuse.

Now the most worrying thing for me is - what if it falls over and damage my house - who pays for it? He assured me that they will make good on the damages on private properties if the pole falls over. That make me feel slightly better.

My questions for you are - Do you have a pole in your backyard? Has it been checked recently? Do you know how often they are checked? Has anyone ever experienced a fallen BT pole damaging their property etc?

moonrakerz

Can't you find something more worrying to worry about ?

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

moonrakerz wrote: »

Can't you find something more worrying to worry about ?

It sounds quite worrying enough to me. These things are [STRIKE]quite[/STRIKE] very heavy and could do a lot of damage to people or property in the event of a falling down incident.

iniltous

Im sure a pole would only be put put by BT/OR in the way you describle if it were to deliver service to your own property, as you say access would only be available if you were at home, the pole is probably a 'feeder' pole from the main distribution point, which may well be another pole, but there must have been a reason your property couldnt be served from the DP,
I think pole testing is done more to establish the pole is safe to climb, rather than stopping them falling over, in general they dont just topple over even in high winds, there is quite a lot of the pole below the ground, and unlike trees which can be brought down in high winds, the surface area is quite small so the forces on the pole from the wind is less,
I think you dont realy need to worry, but if you ever had a problem with the telephone line that required someone to climb the pole, and the pole test was out of date, and there was no access for a hoist, then its possible you may have a delay in getting the line repaired.

organic_choc

iniltous wrote: »

Im sure a pole would only be put put by BT/OR in the way you describle if it were to deliver service to your own property, as you say access would only be available if you were at home, the pole is probably a 'feeder' pole from the main distribution point, which may well be another pole, but there must have been a reason your property couldnt be served from the DP,
I think pole testing is done more to establish the pole is safe to climb, rather than stopping them falling over, in general they dont just topple over even in high winds, there is quite a lot of the pole below the ground, and unlike trees which can be brought down in high winds, the surface area is quite small so the forces on the pole from the wind is less,
I think you dont realy need to worry, but if you ever had a problem with the telephone line that required someone to climb the pole, and the pole test was out of date, and there was no access for a hoist, then its possible you may have a delay in getting the line repaired.

I hope what you say is true - esp regarding the difference from trees as the very strong winds that took place a few weeks ago had knocked down several trees in my area and the roads were littered with bits of trees that are bigger than cars.

The markings on the pole indicated that it has been here since 1991. God knows when was the last time it has been checked. Probably never.

HappyMJ

organic_choc wrote: »

I hope what you say is true - esp regarding the difference from trees as the very strong winds that took place a few weeks ago had knocked down several trees in my area and the roads were littered with bits of trees that are bigger than cars.

The markings on the pole indicated that it has been here since 1991. God knows when was the last time it has been checked. Probably never.

1991 makes it only 20 years old. That's young. They last for about 40 years. Worry about it in 20 years time.