Spring planting underway in Vancouver

Slow and steady. Working with electricity probably shouldn’t look electrifying.

It’s definitely spring but today feels very autumnal: harsh sunlight, sharp gusts of arctic air, dessicated leaves blowing around — isn’t spring just autumn in reverse? — maybe the seasonal machinery has temporarily slipped a gear or two.

Still, spring is planting time and here are some contractors planting a new wooden utility pole for our provincial electric utility BC Hydro.

These guys were at the same task in the same lane yesterday on the west side of Cambie Street, north of King Edward Avenue. They were about a block further along today, moving north — even though the truck was pointed south.

I didn’t interfere or interrupt them to ask questions although I could have done with an explanation of the process I was watching.

If it was exciting they would be doing it wrong

The new pole was easy to identify as the straightest and tallest one. I think the other two were coming down. I know the worker in the bucket was drilling holes in the new pole, presumably to attach the fittings required to carry the transmission lines still held by the other two poles.

It was a very slow, painstaking, process. Not only were the workers building something designed to last nearly half a century, they were working with electricity, so they were in no hurry to do anything wrong.

Consider that the above photo is a panorama stitched together from 26 separate photos. It took a few minutes to take the photos but in that time there was so little movement that in the final composite shot the two workers and the bucket and bucket arm are hardly blurred.

Some of this is vital infrastructure work is so dull! After I took my photos I quickly grew bored and moved on. Click the image to enlarge it.