Edna Nduta Wangui

INSPECTION REPORT FOR FIBRE WOODEN POLES identification of quality poles – We got the pleasure of visiting our supplier (Tri-Top Investment) before the delivery of our poles to the site, below are some pointers and information we gathered. You must visit the treatment plant where you are purchasing the poles for clarity and verification. 1. The KEBS standard used is KS- which was prepared in reference to BS 1990 & SABS 754 2. The wood species used are from the Eucalyptus family, paniculata, saligna,grandis and others, thus the difference in the poles we come across 3. Once the poles are harvested from the farm they are debarked, graded, sized and gang-nailed, they are then left to air season to remove the excess water, the process takes 14-21 days 4. After the air seasoning, the moisture content of the poles is checked, it should be not more than 28% 5. If the moisture content is less than 25-28% the poles are placed at the treatment plant. 6. The treatment done is pressure treatment at a vacumized plant of 600mm Hg, the chemical used is a mixture of CCA and water, this process takes a day, and then poles are then allowed to air season to sip in the chemical even further – minor cracks can be seen due to the countless times the pole has been allowed to air season Defects of a pole Inspection pointers For a pole to be considered defective the following points should be taken into consideration;  knots –the diameter of the knot should not exceed ¼ of the diameter of the pole at that particular section  Butt checks – the cracks at the end of a pole should not be more than 4 running from the pith to the outer layer  Cracks should not exceed 15mm and should not be continuous within 1 meter, anything below that is considered sound as per the KS 516.  Gum pockets- any poles with gum pockets should be picked as defective  The diameter of an 8m pole at TGL (Theoretical Ground Length) should be 152.5mm. and that of a 10m should be 182.5mm Acceptable knots, cracks and defective ones Acceptable cracks due to wood species seasoning and treatment Unacceptable Cracks Acceptable knots due to self pruning Unacceptable knots – 4 continuous knots within 1m Butt checks and gum pockets A pole with such cracks at the butt is ok, it is within the specifications of KS516 Any pole with gum pockets is not acceptable Equipment used when inspecting the poles at the plant before delivery to site – Moisture meter Allowable moisture content before treatment Unallowable moisture content before treatment Equipment used when inspecting the poles at the plant before delivery to site – incremental bowler Chemical content measure should not be less that 12% The samples are then taken to the laboratory for the analysis; however with naked eyes the pieces should have a brownish color Measuring the diameter & length of the pole Vanier caliper wrong placement of the caliper Correct placement – the top diameter should be not less than 120mm and the tgl should be not less than 152mm