The Standard

From the Library of QRS

Utility Pole Joint Use: Food for thought

How Pole Inventory Audits and Inspections benefit Utilities

                                                                                                                                                            Volume 01, Rev 0

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Utility poles are such a common element in our communities that we hardly notice them unless something goes wrong. It is hard to believe that utility poles are a focal point of change and controversy. Are they part of the new competitive utility world or just a relic of the past that should have been done away with years ago? One thing is for certain - how the operator industries address utility pole issues, will impact the future of these poles.

Utility poles and the rights-of-way are important components of utility systems that deliver both electrical and telecommunications services to customers. What's changed is that the market for telecommunications services - including traditional telephone voice and data transmission and enhanced information/entertainment services - is growing as a result of a technology-driven explosion along with increasing customer demand for those services. Utility poles are especially important to new operators (i.e., competitive telecommunications providers) because they provide the most cost effective means for capturing new telecommunications customers and their expanding communications needs.

New competitive operators need to concentrate on survival. This means lines have to be quickly deployed and a significant number of customers have to be signed up with as many services as possible. In some cases rapid deployment means that wires, cables and equipment must be run so that an interested customer can be hooked up without delay. Twenty years ago, many industry experts thought that most facilities would be underground by now. This obviously has not happened, and it is because underground deployment is too expensive and too slow. The marketers and innovators that drive successful competitors may not also have a long term focus on the engineering and maintenance requirements of a system intended for many years of service in a crowded ROW.

Contractors usually do the construction. Often they want to get the wire up, get paid and proceed to the next job. Some installations cost more to bring up to code than it recently cost to have them installed. In a couple of cases, entire systems are being removed. Contracts are hastily signed with pole owners, and attention to details, requirements and costs are lacking. Later, the violations and disputes arrive.

Safety inspections over the last few years continue to show that operators are creating excessive NESC violations on new line jobs, and inspection/correction programs are less than desirable. Some of the more frequently found violations include: inadequate clearances between electric and communication lines (endangering communications line workers), insufficient vertical line clearances above streets and driveways for trucks and tall vehicles, lost climbing and working space around poles (so that linemen cannot safely climb them or work on facilities) and neglected poles and facilities that have not been promptly removed or transferred when replaced.

In general, the number and density of violations across the state indicate that there needs to be an accelerated effort by all OH Infrastructure operators to correct databases and violations