As of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, 655 Langley residents were out of power – most being in Aldergrove due to an accident where a vehicle took down a power pole on Fraser Highway, near its intersection with 264 Street.
Mass power outages and a main intersection blockade as a result of the collision, began as early as 5:20 a.m.
Langley RCMP Sergeant Chris Goebel explained B.C. Hydro’s initial plan for tackling the sheared off power pole and others affected by the weight of its downed wires.
“The secondary pole’s crossmember was broken by the weight of the pole hit by the vehicle,” Goebel elaborated, pointing to the two adjacent poles on Fraser Highway.
“It pulled on the wires so hard that the top wooden crossmember snapped,” Goebel added.
“What they [BC Hydro] wants to do is to replace the crossmember because its just hanging by that metal support bracket,” Goebel explained.
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“If that falls, those connecting wires are going to come down” and possibly crossmembers across the intersection that would take on its weight, he said.
After the cross member’s replacement, it would then be safe to open 264 Street, north and south as well as the intersection to the east, Goebel said.
The first B.C. Hydro worker arrived on scene at 8:30 a.m. They replaced the damaged poles crossmember by 10:00 a.m.
By 10:27 a.m., traffic was let through 264th Street and the eastbound on Fraser Highway.
B.C. Hydro estimates that to completely rectify and replace the downed power pole will take until 3:20 p.m. Thursday, according to their website.