Above, you see a cluster of bucket trucks replacing utility poles in Brooklin this week. The mechanized buckets can be raised and moved about by the operators inside them who are insulated from the electricity, but they sometimes look like alien invaders (or a snow crab on its back) when they work together.
Below, you’ll see a hometown adaptation to getting high at work. The “bucket” there is the bed of an ancient International Harvester dump truck. It has mobility, but its range on this job is pretty much limited to forward and backward. It’s also big enough to hold two basic ladders – for high and higher work. The ladders are capable of left and right movements controlled by the operator on this job.
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 10 [ladders] and 17 [buckets], 2024.)