You’ve Seen These Signs in NJ for Years: Where They Go
Most people don't pay any attention to them, since they've been around for a generation or more.
They are 8-foot-tall posts with a sign that reads, "WARNING Transcontinental Cable Route Do Not Dig Anywhere in this Area..."
They have a peaked small metal covering on top with a large three-digit serial number.
These signs look ominous enough, almost going back to the radiation fallout signs on buildings years ago.
They started popping up around the time those signs started going away, although one has nothing to do with the other.
But if you're from that generation, it does make you pause and wonder what danger there is.
The only danger would be a mass interruption in landline communications in your area and beyond if you dug deep enough and damaged one of those heavy cables buried deep in the ground beneath those signs.
AT&T started replacing old copper wire cables back in the late 1980s.
They usually run in a line that sometimes crosses roads.
You'll see a group of them for a while along a road and then they seem to disappear into the woods or a housing development.
We've all seen them from time to time and never given much thought to where they start or where they end up.
These in my town run along Jackson Road in Medford, originating in Philadelphia and ending up in Atlantic City.
There is a port in Tuckerton where the cables run across the Atlantic and down to South America.
These cables run across the continent and under the Atlantic Ocean and around the world.
There's no danger above them, just don't dig anywhere near them.