Case Study: Mountains are No Match for SE28 Pole
Strongwell's lightweight SE28 FRP composite transmission pole reduces the cost and difficulty of installations in mountainous terrain.
The Tennessee Valley Authority recently installed two 115 kV transmission poles in a mountainous area of Northeastern Tennessee. Because access to the area by vehicle was difficult, transportation of the poles to the installation site was done by helicopter.
The SE28 pole provides two major advantages over wood and steel poles for applications in difficult terrain. First, the FRP pole has a higher strength to weight ratio than the steel or wood poles. Second, the SE28 is light enough to allow for the use of a light duty helicopter for transport. Steel and wood poles would require the use of a heavy-duty skycrane helicopter, adding thousands of dollars per hour in project installation costs.
| TECHNICAL DATA |
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| Product: Transmission Poles |
| Process: Pultrusion |
| Materials: Fiberglass reinforced vinyl ester |
| Sizes: 60- and 65-foot tapered poles |
| For: Tennessee Valley Authority |
The SE28 also provides another benefit to a helicopter assisted installation. Thanks to the inherent properties of FRP, no build-up of static charge is experienced during the transport of the poles.
The lightweight SE28 poles can be framed before being transported to remote installation sites, and both pilots and line crews have been pleased with the ease of transport and installation.