What's This New Item on This Utility Pole About?

Probably some sort of surveillance device...��

Thought about it, but not much to surveil.

I agree, cathodic surveillance...

In this case, it looks like the electric pole it is attached to is the subject of the protection.

That's what I was thinking, but what underground pipes are accessed at ground located between a garage foundation and an alley?

It's just not likely.

What is the unit connected to is what imI looking for.

Cathodic protection. About 1/3 of the way down under "Applications".

Why didn't you just ask one of the, "many Oakley wearing Escalade driving types of "workers" standing together and smiling," what was going on?

Because each any every other piece of equipment has an easily identified application.

I have kept my eyes open for them, but they must be elsewhere in town.

Kicking myself for not asking.

I'll ask the alderman for details and share when I know more.

Instead of ringing the phone number on the label attached to it and asking, why not ask CR4 instead (rhetorical question - NNTR)?

How abstruse.

I'm not familiar with Chicago's underground infrastructure, but I assume there's quite a mix of metals buried underground. Things like cast iron sewer lines, lead, iron, galvanized iron, and copper water lines, black iron gas lines, and galvanized electric power service entrances, etc., some of it a century or more older.

With that large a mix of metals in contact with moisture in the soil, something's going to get consumed by electrolysis. The city is taking steps to limit this destruction by providing a system that uses sacrificial electrodes that get consumed instead of that mix of metals.

You could have bid on the project if you had read the contract bidding documents. No conspiracy theories needed.

All of it is in the street.

I'd expect a second hole for a connection to some obscure infrastructure rather than the same hole as the telephone pole.

Could be wrong. It just seems..

Very convenient..

The most likely subject is ductile iron pipe, probably for the sewer. A lot places are trying to get away from clay or concrete sewer pipes because they btreak under ground and leak, especially under roads where heavy trucks pass over them. Ductile iron pipes are stronger, but more expensive and they eventually rust. So they add catholic protection to those pipes to get longer life out of them.

http://www.uspipe.com/products/ductile-iron-pipe

"catholic protection"

May your rooster be struck by lightning for that.

There are no grounds for that behavior.

(Add a ground SE!)

Lol!

I was raised catholic, I needed that...

Nope. Not sewage. I know whre it is in relation to the the equipment.

The ductile iron pipes we made were first coated with zinc through a metallization process. This would be followed by a coat of bitumen or epoxy.

If the outer protective layer was breached the zinc formed a “blister” protecting the base iron from further corrosion. We didn’t have to install sacrificial electrodes.

ahhh.. no stinkin' anodes..(insert meme) interesting.

thanks!

Are smart meters being installed in your area? If so it might be the wireless comm system monitoring power usage and may also give the ability to throttle energy usage in high demand times.

Hooker

They exist, but I don't know how that would be the case.

If you really want to know, call missdig or the Illinois equivalent. Tell them you want to dig a big hole and they will come out and mark all the underground utilities, maybe that would give a clue to what that is protecting.

My former neighbor lives across the way. His might need a new fencepost about 20' away.. better call Julie.

..oh? no need.. it's august

You only need to dig safely in April?

If it's like Arizona Blue Stake, they'll only come out to mark if you are using power digging equipment.

Each utility has their own locater guy and their own color of paint.

Not at all. I used them Julie all the time when I did automatic gates.

Lots of hand trenching and deep foundations. Most often in sandy soil thankfully.

Nothing against cathodic protection, but that has more to do with pipelines than the electric grid. Our power pole received a "thingamawhatchamacallit" some time back. I finally saw an electric company guy in the drive and asked. Ours is apparently for remote reading of the electric usage of a range of homes around us. It doesn't look anything like what I see above. Wonder if I can get a photo.

Got the photo after supper:

Did you look at the file name of that image?

For_remote_reading_electric_meters__8-21_B466ECAC-DA06-56F8-E480027EB89C6AA3.jfif

Like I said in Post #13, remote comms with electric meters.

Hooker

Hooker,, Somehow I missed #13 in all the hubbub about cathodic protection!

No problem, at my age that happens to me all the time!

And after I sent that last message it hit me that since you took the pic that must have been your file name!

I shall now retire in ignominy! Or in bed, which ever comes first.

Hooker

Might just be a pipeline. When I was living in NYC, there were people who had fuel pipelines in their backyards and never knew about it!

5G Cell Antenna?