Timber pole integrity testing

An estimated 6 million Timber Utility Poles represent a significant component of Australia’s infrastructure with more than $12 billion estimated value. As timber poles deteriorate over time to varying levels, power distribution companies in Australia and overseas carry out routine inspections on such poles to assess their structural integrity. The common techniques used in Australia are visual inspection, sounding with a hammer and drilling which provide very subjective and inaccurate results. This research focused on Stress Wave Propagation as a non-destructive testing technology to examine pole defects and health. The outcome is very promising and currently the technology is trialled among several assets owners in Australia and New Zealand.