status of Cooperative Work on Joint Use of Poles * 

 By J. C. MARTIN and H. L. HUBER 



Because of the necessity of reaching the same customers, electric supply 

 and telephone lines commonly use the same streets and highways. In urban 

 communities, the joint use of poles for these two services has been very 

 widely adopted and practises for joint use construction have been established 

 from experience gained in past years. In rural communities, joint use is not 

 always practicable or economical. Joint use involves rnany engineering and 

 economic problems which have received the careful consideration of the Joint 

 General Committee of the National Electric Light Association and Bell 

 Telephone System. 



This paper describes some of the problems which have been encountered 

 in joint use, and briefly outlines the work which is being conducted by the 

 Joint General Committee in connection therewith. 



It is concluded that in specific cases proposed for joint use all factors 

 should be studied cooperatively by the companies concerned and that every- 

 thing practicable should be done to facilitate joint use construction and 

 extend its usefulness. 



TELEPHONE and electric light and power services are supplied 

 in the same areas and to customers who are to a large extent 

 common to both utilities. It is therefore necessary that both types of 

 service be carried along the same streets and highways. 



Experience has shown that safer and more satisfactory conditions 

 can often be secured if the power and telephone circuits are carried 

 on the same poles. This is due in part to the fact that clearances and 

 climbing space can be more readily maintained where both classes of 

 circuit are carried on the same poles rather than on separate poles on 

 the same side of the street. Where separate lines are placed on oppo- 

 site sides of the streets and alleys, it is difficult to secure and maintain 

 proper clearances for service wires to buildings where these cross the 

 line of the other utility. 



Joint use of poles by the power and telephone companies results in 

 the use of fewer poles on streets and highways and better appearance 

 of aerial lines. It is, therefore, more desirable from the public point of 

 view. It conserves pole timber and in many cases is more economical 

 to both classes of utility than separate lines. 



Because of the above mentioned advantages, joint use of poles by 

 power and telephone companies has been widely adopted. No com- 

 plete data are available as to the extent of such joint use at the present 

 time, but it is estimated that there are at least five million poles jointly 

 used by the power and telephone companies in the United States. 



* Part IV^ of the Symposium on Coordination of Power and Telephone Plant. 

 Presented at the Winter Convention of the A. I.E. E., New York, N. Y., January 

 26-3U. 1931. Published in abridged form in Ekclrical Engineering, March, 1931. 



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