Zack Barry takes pride in being an IBEW lineworker and can’t imagine doing anything else.

Lineworker Focus: Zack Barry

Zack Barry takes pride in being an IBEW lineworker and can’t imagine doing anything else.

  • Born in Coventry, Connecticut, and has one older brother.  
  • Married to his wife, Brittany. They have a one-year-old son named Luke.
  • Enjoyed boating and beaching with the family, snowmobiling and four-wheeling.
  • Competed at the 2023 International Lineman’s Rodeo with his journeyman linemen teammates, Jimmy Rogers and Shawn Murphy. 
  • Currently working on pole change outs, reconductor projects, and installation of new equipment.

Early Years

When I was younger, I had an older friend who was a lineworker, and I always wanted to get into the trade. I did my apprenticeship with IBEW Local 42. I worked as a contractor for about seven years and came over to the power company three years ago. Every day, we do various line work tasks relating to overhead and underground distribution.

Day in the Life

I am currently a lineworker for Eversource in Connecticut, and I go out in the field every single day.  The type and amount of work changes day to day. It depends on what is scheduled and ready to go. We do a lot of underground cable pulls and overhead reconductors, along with new installs and maintenance on all sorts of equipment. With the long hours we work while on storm, it can be a challenging job, but also a very rewarding one.

Safety Lesson

Job-site safety is the most important thing in this trade. Fortunately, for myself, I have not been in any major accidents, but there have certainly been times, when I thought to myself,” that could have gone bad,” and I have learned and grown from those.

Memorable Storm

My most memorable storm was Hurricane Irma in September 2017. I went down to Florida for two weeks with the contractor that I was working for at the time. After that trip, I went with another contractor to St. Thomas to do the restoration work from the same storm. The damage was like nothing I had seen before. The roofs were torn off homes, and properties were destroyed. As far as the grid, some of it was salvageable, while a lot of it required new pole sets and pulling in new wire. That storm was a great experience and gave me the opportunity to travel and see something different.

Tools and Technology

At the end of the day, all lineworkers are different and have to decide which tools really work for them and which ones just take up space on the truck. Personally, I don’t think you can beat Milwaukee power tools in this trade. The big 7/16 impact is great to have around for tightening bolts in the air or drilling through a pole that you are climbing. The cutters are a big life saver too as you can keep one hand on an energized tap to control it, while using the Milwaukee cutters in the other hand. It seems every year new tools come out with the thought of making our job easier in mind.

Future Plans

If I had the choice, I would most definitely do this all over again. I’ve always enjoyed the outdoors and working with my hands. To me this is one of the coolest and most rewarding jobs you can do. As far as future plans for my career, I am not really shooting much higher than where I am at this time. I enjoy being a lineworker on a crew and getting to go out to work every day and have a good time.