With an average installed cost of $3000 per pole, the total installed cost per 1000 kilometers is $63 million. Approximately 12% of these poles are inspected every ten years by third-party inspectors at a cost of around $100 per pole.
What is the average time it takes to replace a utility pole?
What is the average time it takes to replace a pole? The cost of a replacement varies substantially based on its location and complexity. For a low-difficulty replacement, estimates range from 8 to 18 worker hours, and for a high-difficulty replacement, estimates range from 20 to 75 worker hours.
How often do power poles need to be replaced?
A conventional timber distribution pole is predicted to last for more than 50 years in most cases. Other than degradation and old age, poles may need to be changed on occasion. Weather disasters, electricity line relocation or upgrades, and car accidents are all examples of situations where quick replacement is required.
What happens if a power pole is damaged?
You may be sued by the city, county, or other local entity that maintains the telephone pole for the expense of repair. Generally speaking, you should submit a responsibility claim with your insurance company to avoid paying out of pocket.
How much does it cost if you hit a telephone pole?
You may be responsible for the damage to your car, the pole, and any other property damaged in the collision, as well as any tickets you obtain. If you have collision coverage, your insurance company should cover the cost of repairing or replacing your car. If you additionally damage the pole, your liability coverage should cover the damage up to the amount of your policy.
What is the depth of subterranean telephone poles?
A standard utility pole is around 40 feet long, with 6 feet buried in the ground. They are typically spaced around 125 feet apart in urban situations, but closer to 300 feet apart in rural areas.
What is the best way to fix a sagging telephone pole?
- While another person holds the pole to keep it from shifting, dig down the side of the pole and away from the lean using a shovel.
- Cut two to four 5-foot-long rope strips and knot each end to the pole approximately 3 feet above the ground.
What is the length of a power pole?
In the United States, a normal utility pole is roughly 40 feet (12 meters) long and is buried about 6 feet (2 meters) underground. Poles, on the other hand, can reach heights of 120 feet (37 meters) or more to meet clearance standards. In metropolitan settings, they are normally located approximately 125 feet (38 meters) apart, and in rural areas, they are spread around 300 feet (91 meters), however distances vary greatly depending on terrain. A single utility normally owns joint-use poles and leases space on them to other utilities. The National Electrical Safety Code (not to be confused with the National Electrical Code issued by the National Fire Protection Association) specifies the rules for the construction and maintenance of utility poles and their equipment in the United States.
What kind of wood is used to make power lines?
Trucks loaded with utility poles hurried to the Northeast from all across the country in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which knocked out power to 8 million homes. Natural disasters like Sandy serve as a reminder that, despite technological advancements, timber poles remain the nation’s electrical grid’s backbone.
According to the North American Wood Pole Council, there are an estimated 130 million wooden poles in use across the country. Utility poles have the potential to give a good return on investment for tree farmers. Due to their size, Southern yellow pines and Douglas fir are the most common trees, although other tall and straight softwoods such as Northeastern red pine, Western red cedar, and other softwoods are also employed.
According to Gary Bourgeois of 3B Timber, a family-owned pole mill in Boonville, New York, which produces up to 30,000 utility poles annually, “a pole is the maximum value you will receive from a red pine.” Stumpage costs two to three times as much as cut timber.
How long does a utility pole made of wood last?
According to a study conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute, wood poles can live up to 50 years. The majority of utilities estimate that their poles will last 30 to 40 years.
When it comes to concrete poles, how long do they last?
If I had a dime for every time a possible client has mentioned using old telephone (utility) poles to build a new pole barn during the previous three decades, I’d be retired and lying on a beach in Ecuador right now!
Pole buildings are intended to be long-term structures that are both cost-effective and efficient. Given that the average finished pole building costs around $50,000, including site work, access upgrades, materials, construction, concrete work, and utilities, it appears that individuals that invest in them see them as long-term investments as well.
Utility firms spend a lot of money on its infrastructure, which includes utility poles. A pole’s cost includes transportation (from the treatment plant to the utility company yard, to the installation place), installation equipment and time, as well as regular upkeep and repair. Utility poles are not often replaced any earlier in their life cycle than is necessary due to all of these costs and the incentive to avoid losing money.
According to a survey of 150 utility providers, utility poles have an average service life of 25 to 37 years. “Strength degradation from ground line decay” is the most typical reason for replacement. Pole top degradation, rot at connections, pole top cracking, and extreme weathering were among the other causes for replacement.
The majority of utility poles are pressure treated with pentachlorophenol, which is an oil-based chemical (PCP). PCP does not form a link with the wood’s cells and is therefore vulnerable to gravity. Take a look at a spanking new utility pole; it appears to have been treated evenly across its length. Gravity pulls on the chemicals over time, causing them to migrate towards the pole’s far end (as well as potentially leaching into the ground). When the chemicals at the ground line become thin enough, the pole is vulnerable to rapid deterioration.
Are you thinking about building a pole barn out of old utility poles? Consider this: if they outlived their useful life as a power pole in 25 to 35 years, what makes you think they’d be useful as supports for a permanent (and often expensive) pole structure?
While I’m about it, check out my blog from yesterday, where I talk about the dangers of utilizing PCP-treated posts for anything!
What is the price of a wood utility pole?
To summarize, a typical wooden utility pole in North America with a service life of 40 years will cost $3000 to install and $426 to inspect and maintain over its lifespan, for a total lifetime cost of $3426 or $72 million per 1000 miles.