Pole testing ensures high reliability and long life: hydro-quebec pilot project verifies result of field-test methods

摘要

Electric utilities are placing increasing emphasis on cost-effectively extending the life of existing facilities while maintaining adequate levels of safety and reliability. In the case of overhead lines, utilities face the problem of aging wood poles (most will reach the end of their "design life" over the next 10 to 20 years) combined with tight capital and maintenance budgetary requirements. Furthermore, since the mid-1990s, more telecommunications, cable television, internet and wireless carriers in the United States and Canada are seeking to expand their markets by attaching their equipment and cables to utility poles. Most in-service wood pole lines were not designed to carry this additional hardware and are overloaded beyond their original safety factors.