Materials

This chapter describes the mechanical properties, applicable standards, and specifications used to manufacture wood poles. In the North American utility industry, the latest versions of ANSI Standard O5.1 and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Standard CAN/CSA-015 provide wood poles’ physical properties. These properties include the strength and stiffness properties of the materials comprising the structures, which govern the response of structures to applied loads. For wood poles, the most important measure of stiffness used in analysis and design calculations is the modulus of elasticity. The chapter also briefly discusses the preservative treatments and conditioning of the pole. The American Wood Protection Association and CSA standardize preservative treatments. The two basic categories of treatments are oil-soluble or miscible systems and water-soluble systems.