Built-Up Utility Poles Using Prairie Timber

The Canadian prairie utilities are now facing a serious shortage of distribution poles (35 to 45 ft. in length). Prairie jack pine has been used in the past but lately stands of suitable trees have been severely diminished due to continuous harvesting. However, 20- to 25-foot-long jack pine poles are readily available but such lengths are too small for most situations. The objectives of this paper are to discuss several designs developed to compensate for the limited lengths of jack pine poles and to describe the tests used to evaluate their strength and stiffness characteristics. Based on this investigation, two economical designs are suggested. The first design consists of splicing two jack pine poles with a steel connecting device. The second design is a frame consisting of several spliced logs.

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