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Location :
Oregon, USA
Study 1 : Retention, Penetration and
Moisture Content of Field Lined
Poles in Service in Seattle,
Washington State
Dates :
March 2007 and on-going
Study 2 :
Evaluate properties and develop
improved specifications for wood
poles
Dates : 2004 and on-going
Oregon State
University is one of the world’s
foremost educational and research
establishments in the field of
forest resources. The
College of Forestry is organised
into four departments,
Forest Engineering,
Forest Resources,
Forest Science and
Wood Science & Engineering.
The Department of Wood Science &
Engineering (WS&E) is focused on
science, technology, engineering and
business practices and aspires to be
widely recognised as a leading
centre globally for wood science and
engineering education & research.
The Department of WS&E is nationally
ranked in the top 4 such programs by
United States Department of
Agriculture and is one of the most
comprehensive in scope and
activities.
Within the WS&E faculty is
University Distinguished Professor,
Jeff Morrell. Jeff has
many published papers on the
subject of wood decay and it’s
causes, wood treatments,
preservatives etc and is rightly
regarded as a world expert in his
field. Jeff is the President of the
AWPA, the American Wood
Protection Association
Of particular
interest to Jeff are Utility Poles
and this is reflected in his role as
‘Principle Investigator’ for the
Oregon State University
Utility Pole Research Co-Operative.
Founded in 1981, the OSU
Utility Pole Research Co-Operative
(UPRC) is a consortium of utilities,
chemical companies, wood treaters
and inspection agencies working
together within a unified plan to
address Utility Pole
biodeterioration and preservation
issues. For 2007 onwards, the UPRC
will be undertaking research against
11 clear objectives.
Protective
Packaging Ltd has committed to be a
member of the UPRC from mid 2007. As
a non-utility member, PPL will
contribute $7500 a year to the
research programme that will be
undertaken by the UPRC. At the OSU
WS&E facilities include sterile
culture facilities, chemistry
laboratories, an experimental
treatment cylinder, and a
supercritical fluid impregnation
pilot plant..
The group also
maintains a field test site 12 miles
north of town, the T.J. Starker Post
Farm which was established in 1927
and is one of the oldest
continuously operated sites in North
America
Additionally, the
UPRC maintains numerous field test
sites in the lines of member
utilities. The group also has access
to other facilities within the
department and through cross campus
arrangements. These include a pole
testing facility, composites
laboratories, analytical
laboratories, and electron
microscopes.
The UPRC performs
the following routine tests:
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AWPA and ASTM
soil block tests for decay
resistance
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NWDMA
swellometer tests
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Field exposures
for above ground decay resistance
-
Laboratory and
field performance of chemicals
against stain fungi
-
Field
evaluations of new remedial
treatments
-
Culturing of
wood for the presence of decay
fungi
-
Preservative
analysis
-
Treatability of
wood species
Field Liner Tests
Since 2004, the
UPRC has been undertaking research
related to moisture content in Field
Lined poles. The experiment,
established using a previous
generation of the liner has been
running in laboratory conditions but
will shortly be moved to the ‘pole
farm’.
Within this
experiment, poles were lined with
Two Piece Field Liners and an
alternative ‘barrier system’ and
tested in water and soil for
moisture content. The final results
of this study should be known in
2007 when the poles are transferred.
Additional
studies are being undertaken on
Field Lined poles in service with
Seattle City Light. Core samples
were taken in March 2007 to record
moisture content, preservative
retention levels and preservative
penetration levels in 11 poles. 10
are Douglas fir poles treated with
Copper Napthenate and set in service
in 2005 and 2006. The 11th
pole was put into service in 1999
with a PPL Field Field Liner and is
a Penta butt treated Western
Redcedar
These ‘baseline’
samples will form a solid control
for how the poles perform over many
years whilst in service. Below are
some photos of the ‘baseline
sampling’ that took place in March
2007.
Protective
Packaging looks forward to working
with utilities and non-utility
members of the Utility Pole Research
Co-operative to collectively find
ways to extend the service life of
wood Utility Poles.
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