You're listening to a glass box media podcast.

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast where I read random articles from across the web to

bore you to sleep with my soothing voice. I'm your host Benjamin Boster. Today's episode is from a Wikipedia article titled

Utility Poll. A utility poll is a column or post usually made out of wood or

aluminum alloy used to support overhead power lines

and various other public utilities such as electric cable fiber optic cable and related equipment such as transformers and streetlights.

It can be referred to as a transmission pole, telephone pole,

telecommunication pole, power pole, hydro pole, telegraph pole, or telegraph post, depending

on its application.

A stowby pole is a multi-purpose pole made of two steel joists held apart by a slab of concrete in the middle, generally found in South Australia.

Electrical wires and cables are routed overhead on utility poles,

as an inexpensive way to keep them insulated from the ground

and out of the way of people and vehicles.

Utility poles can be made of wood, metal, concrete, or composites like fiberglass.

They are used for two different types of power lines, sub-transmission lines which carry higher

voltage power between substations and distribution lines which distribute lower voltage power to customers.

The first poles were used in 1843 by Telegraph pioneer William Fothergill Cook, who used them on a line along the Great Western Railway.

Utility poles were first used in the mid-19th century in America with Telegraph Systems, starting with Samuel Morse, who attempted

to bury a line between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., but moved it above ground

when this system proved faulty.

Today underground distribution lines are increasingly used as an alternative to utility

poles and residential neighborhoods due to poles perceived ugliness, as well as safety concerns in areas with large

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