For Your Information: Wood Pole Inspections Guidelines

To keep the public safe and ensure reliability, all of our wood poles are inspected a 10-year cycle. We inspect nearly 20,000 poles each year!

Poles receive different inspections, based on their age:

• Poles under 10 years: visual inspection

• Poles that are 10 years or older: intrusive inspection that includes excavation around the pole base and/or a sound and bore of the pole at ground line.  Poles are treated on the surface with a paste and/or internally with a liquid wood preservative.

Protecting Weakened Poles

During our inspections, we measure the thickness of the shell. In some cases, we decide to replace the pole. If a pole is still in sufficient condition, we may choose to restore it. Weakened poles are reinforced with a C-truss, a metal structure attached above and below the ground that provides structural stability.