grahaf@otago.ac.nz (06/09/91)
In article <3298@ria.ccs.uwo.ca>, wlsmith@valve.heart.rri.uwo.ca (Wayne L. Smith) writes: > In article <7Fs532w164w@spocom.guild.org> luns@spocom.guild.org (Luns Tee) writes: >> Anyway, Aluminum is used instead of copper in power lines because its >>cheaper. Ontario Hydro says that they've had problems with people >>stealing copper power lines. =:-O > > I've heard stories of people tying copper lines to the back of their pick-ups > and driving down country roads, ripping the lines off the poles. Here in New Zealand telecom is in the process of burying all the phone lines (lower maintenance, impervious to weather). On one stretch of country road about 20 miles long there was a line of telephone poles holding 64 strands of solid copper wire. Just after the new under ground lines were commisioned and the old ones disconnected (over a weekend :) the whole lot dissapeared! That is 128 miles of copper wire and none of it was ever recovered! What is worse, it didn't happen on April 1!