Double Wood Remediation

Many pole owners struggle with managing their double wood population.  When a pole owner replaces a pole, all attachments (belonging to the pole owner as well as third parties) and equipment must be transferred to the new pole.  When these transfers don’t occur in an efficient manner, two poles (a double wood condition) may remain.  Over time, the number of double wood poles may grow to an unmanageable volume and coordinating all the remaining tasks to transfer the remaining attachments and pull the pole can become overwhelming.  Double wood conditions are a safety concern, an eyesore to the public, and can impact future construction.


Pole Owner Challenges:

  • Thousands of pole transfer tickets in the system; ticket “status” may not reflect the current state of the pole in many cases
  • Third parties slow to get off the pole
  • Sending existing line crews to pull and dispose of poles (that still require transfers) is inefficient and costly
  • There are typically a large number of additional double wood poles not in the system
  • Based on volume, unidentified double wood, and associated costs, it may take years to reduce the double wood population

Osmose can help pole owners address these challenges by acting as a single-service provider to identify, manage, and reduce double-wood backlog by:

  • Identifying double wood conditions that exist in the field and the status of pending transfers
  • Coordinating transfer requests (clear simple transfers, coordinate complex transfers performed by third parties)
  • Coordinating construction, managing the pole removal process (pulling and disposal)
  • Construction invoicing and notification ticket closeout

Images of double wood poles

This type of approach can minimize the pole owners’ direct involvement and costs while Osmose communicates the plan and works collaboratively with third parties to maximize direct cost-recovery.

Program Objectives:

  • Turnkey program to identify, update notification system, manage, and reduce double wood backlog
  • Minimize pole owner’s direct involvement to support the program
  • Leverage language in joint use agreements and work collaboratively with third parties to complete “next steps” and maximize direct cost-recovery
  • Coordinate construction and bill attachers directly

To learn more, call your local Osmose professional.  Not sure who your local professional is?  Email poleinfo@osmose.com to find out.