Steel Poles Stand Up to Severe Weather

Severe weather conditions can pose a serious threat to an electric utility's ability to deliver electrical power to its customers. With this in mind, taking steps to protect a utility's physical infrastructure, and most notably its electrical distribution system, from the hazards of ice, wind and water is a task of major importance for both rural and urban utility companies.
Weather damage can take many forms. Most managers readily point to downed or broken wood distribution poles and live lines as a major hazard. But storm damage can also create crew shortages and serious safety issues for customers and linemen.
A number of forward-thinking utilities are now taking proactive steps to protect their systems against the elements. This is in sharp contrast to the "don't fix it if it's not broken" approach that was often used in the past.
Today's utility managers are planning for infrastructure improvements by examining the impact that new materials and methods can have on the entire utility enterprise, rather than as a single part of the distribution system.
The use of steel distribution poles is one concept that is growing in its acceptance. As proof of this, the American Iron and Steel Institute reported a 62 percent increase in steel distribution pole purchases in 2000 as tonnage shipments to this market doubled.
This 'new' choice has proven especially beneficial in areas that are prone to catastrophic weather conditions, as well as remote locations where installation and line repair is difficult.

Steel Poles Stand Tall Against the Elements -- and the Competition
Snow, ice, wind and rain -- all types of weather can impact an electrical distribution line. Snow and ice add weight to lines, causing lines and poles to break. Winds can toss trees and limbs onto lines and, if strong enough, can down complete sections. Rain saturates soil, flooding roadways and causing damage to highways. These conditions impair the ability of work crews to access affected areas.
Steel distribution poles offer a cost-effective answer to the havoc that the elements can wreak.
"Because of extensive storm and ice damage to our wood distribution poles, we switched to steel poles for their strength and durability," says Bryan Zapf, electrical engineering supervisor at Sheffield Utilities in Alabama.
Zapf, and other utility industry managers who implemented the use of steel, have not been disappointed with the staying power and strength of steel.

Arizona Public Service Saved Labor Time And Money With Steel
Arizona Public Service's search for an alternative to wood got serious after an extremely damaging summer season, when strong winds damaged the company's distribution-pole system. The repairs required were costly, both in expense and lost labor time.
"We began to look for ways to increase the longevity and reliability of our distribution structures," Duane Oliver, construction supervisor for the Northwest Division, remembers. "More than that, we had to stop the damage caused to the system when we lost one structure. Often, one pole would go down, and would cause a domino effect with other poles. We saw this in all seasons, with high winds in the summer, or with snow and ice in the winter. This was not acceptable."
When APS switched to steel, they found that a damaged steel pole often did not require immediate repair. This helped eliminate off-hours work, which resulted in costly overtime and could become a safety issue to tired crews.

Research showcases the strength of steel in bad weather
Dr. Habib Dagher is professor of structural engineering and director of the Advanced Wood Composites Center from the University of Maine. Over the past five years, Dr. Dagher has conducted extensive research to determine the reliability of steel distribution poles in hurricane-force winds in a variety of locales.
After hurricane George hit Puerto Rico in 1998, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Utility reported 8,450 wood distribution poles damaged or failed, but none of the utility's 1,000 steel distribution poles failed.
In July 1997, a storm with sustained winds of up to 120 m.p.h. hit Monticello and Big Lake, Minn. Anoka Electric had both steel and wood poles in the area, but only the wood lines sustained severe damage.
In short order, a turn of the weather can inflict serious damage on a utility company or cooperative's ability to deliver the power its customers need for basic living and business.
As utility managers look to the future, they are choosing cost-effective options like steel that offer a myriad of benefits. In the case of steel distribution poles, the advantages can appear in several ways: as cost savings due to the longer life of steel; and fewer labor hours required for installation, with its light weight, or for repairs due to steel's reliability. Steel is also a benefit because, as a manufactured product, it is specifically designed to stand up to a range of extreme conditions.
To be precise, steel stands up in the face of sever weather -- and the competition.

About the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI)
The mission of the American Iron and Steel Institute centers around these common goals and vision for the future:
-   to provide high-quality, value-added products to a wide array of customers;
-   to lead the world in innovation and technology in the production of steel;
-   to produce steel in a safe and environmentally friendly manner;
-   and to increase the market for North American steel, both in traditional and innovative applications.
AISI is comprised of producer member companies, including integrated, electric furnace, and reconstituted mills; associate member companies, which are suppliers to or customers of the industry; and affiliate member organizations, which are downstream steel producers of products such as cold-rolled strip, pipe and tube, and coated sheet. Member companies account for more than three-quarters of the raw steel produced in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. ET