A Thought on the Timber Utility Poles of Canada

Some Facts About Utility Poles In Canada

The standard timber utility pole we all see along almost every street and over hillsides in every Province in Canada apparently have a life expectancy of around thirty years from the day they are dropped into a hole in the ground. The average cost of replacing one of these poles currently works out around $7,000.00 and sometimes much more, depending on location and what is actually fixed to the pole top. In BC alone there are approximately 4.9 million of these poles, all at different ages and all in different stages of deterioration and yet, the hydro companies who own these poles say they must go out to tender if they want to undertake any remedial works on treatments on the poles, so they are shown to be fair and honest in their business process for granting contracts.

I have to ask the question; How can they go out to tender for a remedial treatment of their poles when they are unaware and don't appear to even want to know of the new generation of all natural timber treatments which employs Nano technology and could more than double the life expectancy of their poles? These utility pole companies are all saying how they are now working towards a 'green environment' and yet, trying to get any of them to actually sit down and listen to a presentation of how a totally green technology could save them countless thousands of dollars on pole renewals, while at the same time saving probably saving thousands of trees from being cut down to make new poles. For a small fraction of the pole renewals cost at $7,000.00 a pop, they could leave the majority of their poles in place for many more years to come and benefit from huge savings, being totally green, making their poles safe and structurally stabilized and cut back on the overall number of new poles they buy each year.

The equipment, the technology, the all natural fluids and the expertise is all available to go to one of these utility poles, inspect its current condition and if found suitable, commence a treatment by drilling two small holes about four inches from ground level. Thereafter, inserting two specially designed injection rods which are connected through a manifold to a pump unit and in turn to a container of our all natural fluids. The fluid is then injected under a pre-determined pressure then stopped to allow the injectors to be moved outwards, then followed by further injections. This process continues about four times on average and it serves to instantly remove all bound and inherent water and moisture from the pole, rising upwards in excess of three feet and going downwards to the very bottom of the pole. Upon completion of the treatment cycle, the pole is now dimensionally and structurally stabilized and fully protected from all types of rot, fungal attack, decay, mould, mildew, damage by moisture and water and even damage from wood destroying insects such as termites, carpenter ants and powder post beetle. The pole is now theoretically better than it was the day they installed it and yet, no one out there seems to want to know.

I chose to mention utility poles for this article as they really are becoming a major issue all across Canada and they still continue to renew then on a daily basis. Apparently it takes an average of three trees being cut down to have only one that is totally suited to becoming a utility pole. Therefore, for the 4.9 million poles in BC alone, they would have to cut down 14.7 million trees to renew then all. These are huge numbers and when you take every province in Canada, the numbers then become staggering. We have the technology to change all of this, using 100% natural fluids, no chemicals, no toxins and no poisons and yet trying to get this knowledge through the bureaucratic matrix that exists with hydro companies and Crown Corporations is almost an impossible task. Meantime, they will continue to cut more trees and install more poles and all of them will eventually suffer the same fate as the ones they are now replacing. Change is needed here as the poles can now be safely and naturally treated, saving hydro companies huge sums of money, which in turn may help keep hydro bills down for consumers. They have to change the way they think about remedial timber treatments and they really have to change now. Otherwise, our environment shall continue to suffer in some way, all because of their lack of current knowledge.