A huge Alabama hydroelectric endeavor came to completion in 1914 called Lock 12, or Lay Dam. The project was conceived by the Alabama Power Company in a market starving for electric power, mainly the steel industry and mines of Birmingham. A 110,000-volt transmission system was designed in a loop for steady service in case of trouble and entirely of double circuit steel towers. Steel towers so advanced in design some unknowing person would think them modern construction. Suspension insulators of Thomas, Locke & Ohio Brass make were installed indiscriminately with 6 in a chain on standard and 7 on strain towers and the conductor was No. 00 stranded-copper. No one company was able to provide enough insulators to keep up with the line construction.

When the lightning season, spring and summer times, arrived in Alabama, the transmission line experienced awful trouble through failing insulators. After every storm, linemen were on patrol replacing broken insulators. The company immediately began megger testing insulators and in 1919 reported 6025 defective insulators in suspension and 8043 in strain. It was shortly after this time that the company seemed to have reinsulated the lines with popular 10" Ohio Brass flanged type suspension insulators.

In more recent times the line has had numerous work done and the particular stretch of line shown now supports one circuit. With half a day of hiking a variety of locations along the line, it was found that over 20 or more different types of suspension insulators have been installed and are either in service or discarded along it.