Use of Labor-Saving Apparatus in Outside Plant 

 Construction Work 



By J. N. KIRK 



Introduction 



IN the January issue of this Journal was discussed the adaptation 

 of transportation equipment to telephone construction and 

 maintenance work. Closely associated with the operation of such 

 equipment is the problem of utilizing various labor-saving machinery 

 which in many cases has been so designed as to form an integral 

 part of the transportation unit. 



It is the purpose of this article to describe some of the more im- 

 portant developments along this line such, for example, as the applica- 

 tion of different types of derricks, trailers for various kinds of work, 

 earth boring machines, numerous applications of air compressors 

 and compressed air tools, etc., and in some instances to contrast 

 the latest types of equipment with former manual methods of carrying 

 out similar operations. 



Pole Derricks 



There are erected in the Bell System each year in the neighborhood 

 of 600,000 new poles. In addition, the maintenance of the existing 

 plant of over 14,000,000 poles involves the moving, removing, re- 

 setting and straightening of large numbers of poles annually. This 

 immense task emphasizes the importance of devising means for off- 

 setting, in so far as is practicable, the old manual methods of handling 

 these poles on the job and from point to point in the field as occasion 

 demands. 



In 1914 there was developed and put into use a pole derrick of the 

 tripod type which was mounted upon a 5-ton truck from which the 

 derrick received the necessary power for operation. As the use of 

 this derrick, which weighed something over 3^2 a ton, was extended it 

 became apparent that while the fundamentals of the design and 

 operation were reasonably well adapted to the average construction 

 job, the weight and bulk of the apparatus introduced a very real 

 factor with regard to the available truck capacity. The derrick 

 members, being large and heavy, were difficult for the men to handle 

 and there was not in all cases the desired amount of flexibility to 

 meet the varied and often difficult requirements. This derrick, how- 

 ever, clearly demonstrated the inestimable value of apparatus cap- 



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