Published Resources Details
Conference Paper
- Title
- The Stobie Pole
- In
- Distribution 2003 : 7th International Energy Transmission & Distribution Conference & Exhibition.
- Imprint
- Waldron Smith Management, Port Melbourne, Vic., 2003, pp. 2255-62
- Url
- https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.341828525535834
- Abstract
To those not native to South Australia, the Stobie pole is either unknown or a strange local phenomenon. The story of the development of the pole is largely confined to the South Australian electricity industry with very few outside of the industry having any knowledge of the history of the invention.
The steel and concrete pole known as the Stobie, was invented by Mr James Cyril Stobie in 1924. This new type of pole allowed the economical extension of the electrical distribution system of the Adelaide Electric Supply Company (AESCo) into the rural areas surrounding Adelaide. Operating experience helped to improve the initial design of the Stobie pole such that it became the basic unit for the construction of new distribution lines into the all the settled areas of South Australia, by the successor to the AESCo, the Electricity Trust of South Australia (the Electricity Trust).
The development of the South Australian electricity supply industry is intimately linked with the parallel development of the Stobie pole. The new type of pole eventually allowed most rural South Australians to enjoy a connection to the state electricity system by the early 1960s. In 2002, the Stobie pole was listed on the Bank SA Heritage Icons list.
This paper is largely a narrative of the development and use of the Stobie. It does not attempt to discuss the technical aspects of the pole or relative merits compared to other pole types.