Utility Plans Major Pole Project On Route 50; $43M Effort To Start Next Month

BERLIN — In a project similar to what occurred last fall in Ocean City, a large scale transition from wooden utility poles to metal will begin in Worcester County next month.

The upgrade will take place over a nine-mile, 69,000-volt transmission line that stretches from Berlin to Ocean City. It will take about eight months and cause at least one, albeit short, planned power outage.

Roughly 150, 45- to 60-foot wooden poles are going to be swapped out during the transition and replaced with larger steel poles.

“They’re going to increase in height,” said Jim Smith, senior public affairs manager for Delmarva Power. “They’re going to go to about 80 to 90 feet.”

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