A novel (title and author unknown) based on the construction of towers
to carry interstate high voltage electric lines.  Could be dated in
the 1930's to 1960's.  I read the novel in the 1960's.  The towers had
to be bolted together and workers went higher and higher as each level
of a tower was completed.  Very well written as I recall.  What else
do you want to know to facilitate a search?

Hello.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the novel was probably
"Slim," a best-selling novel of the 1930s, '40s and '50s.  The author
was William Wister Haines.

Here is one reader's description of the novel:

"I would like to find SLIM by William Wister Haines fine/fine
signed...I don't know why I like this book but I have for 30 years.
It's the story of a young hick, probably in WV or KY, who signs on
with a crew working during the Rural Electrification Project during
the 1920s and 1930s. These crews traveled across the country setting
up towers and stringing wire to bring electricity to rural areas. The
story is very much of its time (written about 1940) with our hero
being the strong silent type, and much dialogue written in various
dialects."
source: Google Groups 
http://groups-beta.google.com/group/rec.collecting.books/msg/249f38dea5c5de0c


There was also a movie version of "Slim" starring Henry Fonda.

See: "SLIM: The Legendary Lineman" at lineman.com
https://www.lineman.com/PrintHandline.cfm?id=20

Here is a description of the film:

"An overlooked and atypical but instantly likeable film, Slim uses the
rural electrification drive of the 1930s as a backdrop for a story
about a young farm boy who hires on with a lineman crew constructing
transmission towers. The young Slim becomes apprenticed to the older,
experienced Red, who is something of a legend in the industry, and the
two travel around the country following construction jobs. "
source: Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029579/usercomments

"Slim" was printed throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, and used
copies are available from Abebooks.com (although they're rather
expensive):
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?imagefield.x=0&an=haines+william&tn=slim&imagefield.y=0
Also see copies starting at $49.95 at Alibris.com:
http://www.alibris.com/search/detail.cfm?chunk=25&mtype=&qauth=haines&qtit=slim&S=R&bid=8277367778&pqtynew=&page=1&matches=14&qsort=r

Also note that Haines wrote a second novel called "High Tension,"
which was also about electrical line workers.
http://dogbert.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?imagefield.x=0&an=haines+william&tn=high+tension&imagefield.y=0
 
-----------
search strategy:
abebooks.com: transmission towers fiction, etc

I hope "Slim" is the novel that you had in mind.  If not, please let
me know via the "request clarification" feature, and we'll go back to
the drawing board. Thanks.