CPOPE
11-18-2007, 10:06 AM
Most lineman have been on a job to replace a rotten pole that has fallen over. We have all heard safety horror stories of a rotted wooden pole falling while beng worked from hooks or a bucket. Occasionally they fall, and when they do, they can cause severe injuries.
While wood poles are subject to stringent standards for treatment, inspection and replacement they still become old, their anti-rot treatment dissipates and they deteriorate. If they are not properly inspected and replaced within the proper guidelines, they can become a hazard to lineworkers and the public they service.
There is a difference between the requirement of a utility to properly inspect their poles and the requirements of a lineman to insure that a pole is safe to climb. In the case of a lineman, the defense will say that he has a responsibility to check a pole before he climbs it. OSHA, NESC and other standards call for the lineman to sound the pole with a hammer and probe it with a screw driver to determine if it is safe to climb. As you can suspect, this mainly applies to lineman who use ladders and spikes to climb poles. The bucket truck lineman are not as much at risk. Many of the lineman use their spikes to sound a pole. They hit the pole extra hard and listen for a hollow sound. Accidents have and will continue to happen with pole structure failure while being worked on. Be cautious when poles are suspect and if in question tempoarilly guy or brace as necessary.
The National Electrical safety code, Rule 214, deals with inspection of lines and equipment, Section A....when they are in service--lines and equipment shall be inspected....Poles should be inspected and tested, records of defects shall be recorded, defects that will reasonably endanger life or property shall be corrected promptly.
The rules say that poles will be inspected as often as necessary. In cold, bug free northern climates, every eight years, ten or twelve years may be ok. The EEI (Edison Electric Institute) standard calculates the frequency of inspection on the number of frost free days in a given geographical region. In a hot, sandy, termite ridden climate such as the Southern states, every three years is not unreasonable.
Inspectors are looking for problems with the electrical services, guy wires, animal guards, damage to the pole from an outside source such as an automobile hitting it, and wood problems in the poles. The most common problem is ground rot. An inspector will dig around the pole approx 18 inches deep and take a core sample of the wood. He will determine the thickness of the outer shell in which the strength of the pole is contained.
A proper inspection should include a "Visual inspection, up and around it, from top to the ground line, look for a split top, ragged top, woodpecker hole, any cracks which are abnormal, plant life growing on the pole, green algae on the bottom. Broken guy wire, broken insulator, street light fixture hanging. The inspector should then sound the pole, bore the pole and measure the outer shell. He will take at least one boring to determine how good the treatment of the pole is, dig down 18 inches to 2 feet, scrape the pole, and look for surface decay. The inspector will then bore again to determine condition of the pole at this location. Any rotten wood he will evaluate. The inspector then writes up this pole, stating that the pole has x inches of circumference left in it, or will say it is good or bad. The inspector will then fumigate if it needs it or inject preservative"
If a pole is starting to show its age, In many areas, professional inspectors will wrap the base of a pole with preservative. This will increase the life of a wood pole. Many Utilities do not do this.
This type of inspection is not the norm. Many Utilities will just sound the pole with a hammer to see if it is hollow. They will then try and probe the pole with a screw driver, trying to drive it in the pole (through the shell). If the pole is soft it needs replacement. If the inspector cannot drive it in, it is good. An Inspector cannot always find the rot with this method and poles will many times deceive the inspectors. There are private contractors such as Osmose and Asplundh that a utility can hire to do the inspections and treatments. How well a utility maintains their poles is generally an indication of how well other aspects of their business is run.
While wood poles are subject to stringent standards for treatment, inspection and replacement they still become old, their anti-rot treatment dissipates and they deteriorate. If they are not properly inspected and replaced within the proper guidelines, they can become a hazard to lineworkers and the public they service.
There is a difference between the requirement of a utility to properly inspect their poles and the requirements of a lineman to insure that a pole is safe to climb. In the case of a lineman, the defense will say that he has a responsibility to check a pole before he climbs it. OSHA, NESC and other standards call for the lineman to sound the pole with a hammer and probe it with a screw driver to determine if it is safe to climb. As you can suspect, this mainly applies to lineman who use ladders and spikes to climb poles. The bucket truck lineman are not as much at risk. Many of the lineman use their spikes to sound a pole. They hit the pole extra hard and listen for a hollow sound. Accidents have and will continue to happen with pole structure failure while being worked on. Be cautious when poles are suspect and if in question tempoarilly guy or brace as necessary.
The National Electrical safety code, Rule 214, deals with inspection of lines and equipment, Section A....when they are in service--lines and equipment shall be inspected....Poles should be inspected and tested, records of defects shall be recorded, defects that will reasonably endanger life or property shall be corrected promptly.
The rules say that poles will be inspected as often as necessary. In cold, bug free northern climates, every eight years, ten or twelve years may be ok. The EEI (Edison Electric Institute) standard calculates the frequency of inspection on the number of frost free days in a given geographical region. In a hot, sandy, termite ridden climate such as the Southern states, every three years is not unreasonable.
Inspectors are looking for problems with the electrical services, guy wires, animal guards, damage to the pole from an outside source such as an automobile hitting it, and wood problems in the poles. The most common problem is ground rot. An inspector will dig around the pole approx 18 inches deep and take a core sample of the wood. He will determine the thickness of the outer shell in which the strength of the pole is contained.
A proper inspection should include a "Visual inspection, up and around it, from top to the ground line, look for a split top, ragged top, woodpecker hole, any cracks which are abnormal, plant life growing on the pole, green algae on the bottom. Broken guy wire, broken insulator, street light fixture hanging. The inspector should then sound the pole, bore the pole and measure the outer shell. He will take at least one boring to determine how good the treatment of the pole is, dig down 18 inches to 2 feet, scrape the pole, and look for surface decay. The inspector will then bore again to determine condition of the pole at this location. Any rotten wood he will evaluate. The inspector then writes up this pole, stating that the pole has x inches of circumference left in it, or will say it is good or bad. The inspector will then fumigate if it needs it or inject preservative"
If a pole is starting to show its age, In many areas, professional inspectors will wrap the base of a pole with preservative. This will increase the life of a wood pole. Many Utilities do not do this.
This type of inspection is not the norm. Many Utilities will just sound the pole with a hammer to see if it is hollow. They will then try and probe the pole with a screw driver, trying to drive it in the pole (through the shell). If the pole is soft it needs replacement. If the inspector cannot drive it in, it is good. An Inspector cannot always find the rot with this method and poles will many times deceive the inspectors. There are private contractors such as Osmose and Asplundh that a utility can hire to do the inspections and treatments. How well a utility maintains their poles is generally an indication of how well other aspects of their business is run.