Non-destructive testing of wooden utility poles using a prototype, portable computerized axial tomography scanner

Wooden utility poles are used extensively in the transmission and distribution of electrical power. It has been estimated that there are more than 130 million wood transmission and distribution poles in service in the U.S. with an estimated value approaching $100 billion. In addition, it is likely that wooden poles will continue to be used for most applications in the future. With an average cost per pole today of approximately $700, plus the costs or replacement, there is a strong financial incentive to accurately test in-service poles so that only those poles that need replacement are replaced, and those that are sound or can be repaired are left in service. This paper describes a prototype device which is totally portable and is currently being used for in-field demonstrations. In addition, this deviced is being used to image poles which are then destructively tested to correlate the resulting image with a prediction of pole strength. The result will be a device which can be used in the field to not only provide a qualitative image of the interior condition of a pole, but also a quantitative prediction of pole strength which can be used to make an accurate decision as to whether or not the pole can remain in service