Extending the Service Life of Electric Distribution and Transmission Wooden Poles Using a Wet Layup FRP Composite Strengthening System
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 24, Issue 4
Abstract
This paper investigates the feasibility of using an in situ wet layup fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) repairing system to extend the service life of electric distribution and transmission wooden poles. The effectiveness of the FRP strengthening method was evaluated through field tests performed on Class-4 deteriorated wooden poles and a step-by-step rapid installation procedure was developed. Results indicated that the application of the in situ wet layup FRP system increased the load capacity of the poles where more than 85% of their original capacity was restored. In addition, the repaired poles exceeded the minimum lateral load required by the NESC and ANSI 05.1 codes indicating that it would be more cost-effective repairing the poles than replacing them. Moreover, in addition to the cost savings, the FRP system extended the service life of the deteriorated poles up to 30 years.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The writers gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by Huntsville Utilities. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the view of the sponsor.
References
American National Standard Institute (ANSI). (1992). “Specifications and dimensions for wood poles.” ANSI 05.1, New York.
American Wood Preservers Association (AWPA). (2005). “Wood pole and cross-arm preservatives.” ⟨www.awpa.com/references⟩ (Mar. 12, 2009).
Borri, A., Corradi, M., and Grazini, A. (2005). “A method for flexural reinforcement of old wood beams with CFRP materials.” Composites, Part B, 36, 143–153.
Cheng, J. J., and Dorey, A. B. (1996). “The behavior of GFRP glued laminated timber beams.” Proc., 2nd Int. Conf. in Advanced Composite Materials in Bridges and Structures, ABCM II, Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE), Montreal, 787–794.
Electric Energy Publications Inc. (2009). “Polux®: A practical non-destructive technology for measurement of wood pole strength.” Electric Energyoline.com.
Ezer, E. R. (2001). “Measurement of wood pole strength—Polux(R): A new nondestructive inspection method.” Electric Power Conf., IEEE, Piscataway, N.J.
GEI Consultants. (2005). “Unique operational characteristics of creosote, pentachlorophenol, and chromated copper arsenate as wood pole and cross-arm preservatives.” Glastonbury, Conn.
Gentile, C. (2000). “Flexural strengthening of timber bridges using FRP.” MSc thesis, Univ. of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Lopez-Anido, R., Michael, A. P., and Sandford, T. C. (2003). “Experimental characterization of FRP composite wood pile structural response by bending tests.” Mar. Struct., 16, 257–274.
Lopez-Anido, R., Michael, A. P., Sandford, T. C., and Goodell, B. (2005). “Repair of wood piles using prefabricated fiber-reinforced polymer composite shells.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 19(1), 78–87.
National Electricity Safety Code (NESC). (1987). National electricity safety code: 1987 edition, IEEE, New York.
Pelvris, N., and Triantafillou, T. C. (1992). “FRP reinforced wood as structural material.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., 4(3), 300–317.
Renforth, L. A., and Taras, A. (2002). “Pole testing ensures high reliability and long life.” Transmission and distribution world, ⟨www.tdworld.com⟩ (May 15, 2009).
Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG). (2005). “Comments of the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group on the notice of availability of the preliminary risk assessment for wood preservatives contain-ing pentachlorophenol reregistration eligibility decision.” ⟨www.woodpoles.org⟩ (Apr. 25, 2009).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 24 • Issue 4 • August 2010
Pages: 409 - 416
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Jul 1, 2009
Accepted: Jan 6, 2010
Published online: Jan 8, 2010
Published in print: Aug 2010
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.