IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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Ability of an acoustic inspection device to detect internal voids in untreated pole sections
2002 - IRG/WP 02-20246
Detecting deterioration before substantial losses in material properties occur poses a major challenge to most wood users. While physical inspection techniques such as drilling or coring are useful, these methods can miss small pockets of damage and they lack the ability to detect early or incipient decay. The development of sonic test methodologies has created the potential for detecting change...
J J Morrell, R G Rhatigan


Microscopic analysis of southern pine utility pole core segments
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1542
Fifteen macroscopic core descriptive categories were evaluated by microscopic analysis for accuracy in detecting decay and judging decay severity. Five categories were good indicators of decay as decay was detected in 28 of 48 samples. Five categories were possible indicators of early decay as decay was detected in 6 of 40 core segments and an additional 18 contained hyphae. The remaining five cat...
S E Anagnost, C J K Wang, M Wright


Improved preservative penetration of spruce after pre-treatment with selected fungi. I. Fungal pre-treatment of pole sections
1998 - IRG/WP 98-40117
European spruce logs were pre-treated with either Phanaerochete chrysosporium, Dichomitus squalens, Trichoderma viride and Trichoderma aureoviride for incubation periods of between 1-4 weeks prior to pressure treatment with creosote in a commercial treatment plant and analysed for strength and creosote uptake (see part II Tucker et al.). A method to pre-treat logs was optimised. The pole sections ...
B Rosner, K Messner, E J B Tucker, A Bruce


Electricity pole treatments - Wedding Bells State Forest. Inspection September 1983
1985 - IRG/WP 3334
A survey to study the extent of soft rot in hardwood poles in N.S.W. was commenced in 1975. The results of the survey, published in 1982, indicated that a number of factors contributed towards soft rot attack on poles in service. A detailed rest on pole treatments and maintenance procedures was established in 1976, at a site in Wedding Bells State Forest near Coffs Harbour. The site selected was k...
R S Johnstone, R H Eldridge


Pole yield of some softwood and hardwood species grown in Bangladesh
1999 - IRG/WP 99-40143
Growth study on 9 timber species planted in Bangladesh soils revealed that 6 species fall under wooden electric pole yield group-A, produce 33% poles within 10 years, another 33% within 15 years and additional 33% within 20 years of rotation. Two species under yield group-B produce 33% poles within 15 years and another 33% within 20 years. One species under yield group-C produce at best 25% poles ...
A K Lahiry


Chemical Analysis of Southern Pine Pole Stubs Thirteen Months Following Treatment with Three Methylisothiocyanate Based Commercial Fumigants
2002 - IRG/WP 02-30294
Agricultural fumigants have been commercially used in the United States for over 20 years to control internal decay in utility poles and other wooden structures. Of the four fumigants which are currently used in the remedial treatment of utility poles, three are based on methylisothiocyanate (MITC) as being the principal fungitoxic component. Two of these MITC based fumigants, liquid metham sodi...
R J Ziobro, T C Anderson, D J Herdman, J Guzzetta, T Pope


Assessment of the effects of rentex remedial treatment on some wood pole inhabitant micro-organisms
1994 - IRG/WP 94-30053
The effects of a remedial ground-line treatment using Rentex, a stabilised paste containing a mixture of fluoride and dichromate salts, on the micro-organisms inhabiting a sample of some 160 creosoted, on-line, electricity distribution poles, have been investigated as part of an appraisal of the efficacy of this remedial treatment. Half of the poles were treated and the other half used as controls...
D C R Sinclair, G M Smith, A Bruce, H J Staines


A comparison of the diffusion of boron from two types of solid preservative rods into the heartwood of 3 Eucalypt pole species
2000 - IRG/WP 00-30227
The ability of boron to diffuse from polyborate and boron/fluoride rods through the heartwood of three eucalypt pole species (blackbutt, red ironbark and spotted gum) was examined. The aim was simply to determine the effects of rod type, wood species and time on the longitudinal diffusion of boron in eucalypt heartwood. Rapid diffusion of boron from polyborate or boron/fluoride preservative rods o...
P J Beutel, P D Evans


In vivo growth study on two gymnosperms and four angiosperms for REB wood poles
1998 - IRG/WP 98-10246
Revealed that the highest growth rates and pole yield in two plantation sites in Bangladesh are significant with 2.06 cm/y in diameter, 0.97 m/y in height and 90% pole yield within 19y in Pinus caribaea; 1.96 cm/y, 0.91 m/y and 100% pole yield within 15y in Xylia dolabriformis; 1.88 cm/y, 0.91 m/y and 22% pole yield within 13y in Dipterocarpus turbinatus; 1.64 cm/y, 0.82 m/y and 28.75% pole within...
A K Lahiry


Three-dimensional modeling of fumigant distribution in wood poles
1993 - IRG/WP 93-30025
The practice of using fumigants to control internal decay has been widely accepted in the United States and has shown to be effect in control internal decay in transmission poles and other large wood timbers. Mathematical models were developed to simulate the chloropicrin movement in utility poles after treatment. The simulation results indicated that treatment of utility poles, using either tradi...
Jing Liu, B Goodell


Preliminary pole treatment trials with chlorothalonil in hydrocarbon solvent
1994 - IRG/WP 94-40027
A series of 460-mm long, end-sealed southern pine pole stubs were treated with chlorothalonil in hydrocarbon solvent. Over sixty sections were treated using various combinations of initial seasoning (kiln-drying, steam-conditioning), treating temperature (ambient, 200°F), initial air pressure, and final conditioning (steam flash + vacuum, expansion bath + vacuum, steam distillation + vacuum). Dis...
H M Barnes


A bioassay of remedially treated pole material
1987 - IRG/WP 3453
Stubs prepared from treated and untreated utility poles were installed in a test plot and pressure spade treated at the groundline with one of four preservative greases. At one and three year intervals, core samples were removed from the stubs and the improvement in the preservative efficacy due to the greases was assessed. The bioassay investigation showed that only bis(tributyltin) oxide (TBTO) ...
J N R Ruddick, L Parker


A simple field apparatus for measuring relative gaff penetration and assessing the effect of additives for improving pole climbability
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20187
A simple apparatus for measuring and comparing the relative "hardness" of utility poles is described. This "slide-hammer" gaff penetration apparatus was designed as a field testing unit to measure the depth of gaff penetration into test poles after application of a uniform and reproducible force to the gaff. The apparatus is simple to use in both the laboratory and field. Data is provided for resu...
A R Zahora


CCA type C depletion of Southern yellow pine utility poles
1995 - IRG/WP 95-50049
Depletion and redistribution of preservative components were evaluated on five CCA-C treated poles in service for over six years in Conley, Georgia. A statistical approach was taken in which retentions below ground were compared to retentions above ground due to a lack of initial data on individual poles. It was hypothesized that the below ground retentions should be lower than the corresponding a...
P D Osborne, R F Fox


Soft rot in heartwood of preservative-treated pole stubs of Eucalyptus cypellocarpa L. Johnson
1983 - IRG/WP 1204
Pole stubs of Eucalyptus cypellocarpa L. Johnson, treated in the sapwood with certain waterborne preservatives and exposed for 21 to 23 years in a dry tropical region were severely soft-rotted in the heartwood, as well as the sapwood. They broke with a brash fracture when stress tested (loaded as a cantilever) in the field. The severe soft rot in the heartwood was not detected by the knife test or...
J E Barnacle, G C Johnson, M A Tighe


The Current Situation Of Wood Poles Installed In Ilha Do Mel: A Wood Pole Biodegradation Diagnostic
2007 - IRG/WP 07-40373
Wood CCA and CCB poles installed in Ilha do Mel, an island of Parana State, Brazil, are failed earlier than expected: just five years after being installed many poles need to be replaced with financial implications for the State Energy Company – COPEL. In an effort to answer what causes this failure, this work shows the deterioration diagnostic of Ilha do Mel’s poles. In fact, such poles have...
C C Borges, J C Moreschi


Field Liners as physical barriers to prevent wooden utility pole decay in soil: An accelerated field simulation trial
2008 - IRG/WP 08-20384
Field Liners (FL’s), plastic sleeves used to protect in-ground wooden poles from fungal and termite damage, have been tested before as physical barriers to prevent contact between soil and wood and to retain wood preservative treatment. These earlier studies concentrated mostly on creosote preserved poles and early generation FL’s which were cumbersome in their application. The newer generatio...
A R Howgrave-Graham, L J Cookson, T Hale


Effect of a biological treatment on below ground decay of Douglas-fir pole sections
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40433
The use of exogenous sugars to accelerate microbial growth and eventually limit available oxygen in soil surrounding wood in soil contact was investigated on untreated Douglas-fir poles exposed over a 3 year period in Western Oregon. Isolation frequencies differed markedly between treated and untreated poles and the treatment did appear to shift the frequency of some basidiomycetes. The treatment ...
C Freitag and J J Morrell


Visual Inspection – How Important is the Influence of the Evaluator?
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20521
Visual inspection is often a crucial means of judging the efficacy and performance of a preservative. It is used in non-destructive testing in long term exposure trials or simply, when the practical use and precision of the human eye is a good means of measure. As for the procedure described in EN 252, the impression of softness due to decay of the wood has also to be considered. Although, a thumb...
M Klamer, P Larsson Brelid, I Stephan


An Overview of Western Red Cedar as a Wood Pole Species
2014 - IRG/WP 14-10815
This paper reviews the characteristics of western red cedar, with particular emphasis on its use in utility poles. Western red cedar naturally grows primarily in British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho and Montana. Compared to other commercial softwoods it has low density, increased corrosivity, weaker mechanical properties, high dimensional stability, and high natural dura...
M H Freeman, R Stirling


Encapsulation of poles to prevent moisture uptake – a laboratory test
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40753
Premature failure of utility poles due to decay in soil contact is the main reason for early removal of utility poles, a measure that implies extra costs for utilities. Remedial treatments and barriers are common methods to prolong the service life of utility poles. The first part of this paper gives an overview of mode of action and commercial application of barrier systems as described in the li...
K-C Mahnert, U Hundhausen


Through-boring to improve the performance of low durability Eucalyptus species for utility poles: 10-year field test results of pole stubs exposed in Southeast Queensland
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40972
An impending shortage of naturally durable hardwood electricity pole timbers in Australia has encouraged investigation of alternatives containing less durable, untreatable heartwood. Through-boring or drilling holes perpendicular to the long axis before treatment, has been used successfully on refractory softwood poles in North America and might have application in Australia. The use of through-bo...
J Norton, L P Francis, J J Morrell


Chemical Analysis of Southern Pine Pole Stubs Sixty Months Following Treatment with a Methylisothiocyanate-Based Solid Fumigant Stick
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30740
Methylisothiocyanate-based fumigants have been commercially used in the United States for over 35 years to control internal decay in utility poles and other wooden structures with little technological advancement. The most recently commercialized methylisothiocyanate-based fumigant is chemically known as dazomet. Dazomet is a free-flowing powder or granule that decomposes in the presence of mois...
D J Herdman, T Pope, R R Browning


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