Poles for Power

When a shipment of 700 hardwood poles from Australia turned up in Gisborne last month on the Kopua, power board gangs had to work into the night transporting and stacking the poles in the Carnarvon Street yards.

Floodlights illuminated the busy scene as the heavy poles, some weighing more than a ton, were lifted off ariculated trucks and stacked.

Most of the shipment will be used for the new transmission line to Puha, to improve and extend power supply further on.

At least one pole was so heavy it lifted the front of a truck right off the ground (above).