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Power Pole Replacement Project

Statewide, Florida

Caissons

Contractor:

Badger Daylighting

Installation:

2019

Technical Description:

  • Product: CORLIX® corrugated aluminum pipe
  • Diameter(s): 24-inch, 30-inch & 36-inch
  • Length: 5' to 10' sections

A large utility company in the United States, serving more than 5 million customer accounts in the southeast, determined that with the frequency of severe storms and  hurricanes in the area, providing reliable, uninterrupted power to the community was crucial.

Following the unprecedented hurricane seasons of 2004-2005, the utility company began strengthening the electric grid serving many of the top critical facilities in the area. They expanded these efforts to include important thoroughfares to help communities return to “normalcy” faster. In these areas, the utility company reinforced existing utility poles with stronger wood or concrete poles, some of which stand 55-feet tall and weigh more than 8,000 pounds. Stronger poles are expected to improve restoration time as setting new poles takes much more time than replacing downed wires.

In order to strengthen the power grid and help prepare for future hurricane seasons, they decided to install new poles throughout the state to better service its customers. Beginning in 2019, the utility company began replacing several thousand outdated power poles throughout the state of Florida in both rural and urban settings.

In rural areas, holes were excavated by standard auger methods. In developed areas, standard auger methods were too risky. The potential for damage to fiber optic lines, cables and other utilities was too great. For those locations, the utility company began employing vacuum excavation. Vacuum excavation is much quicker than hand digging, and, with respect to protecting utilities, a much safer alternative than auger methods. For peak efficiency, separate vacuum excavating crews are sent days in advance of the more costly power pole setting crews.

As such, a casing was needed to ensure the integrity of each hole for up to several days. Of all readily available construction casing materials, CORLIX ® pipe provided the best solution. CORLIX® pipe is a corrugated aluminum pipe manufactured by Contech Engineered Solutions. A CORLIX ® caisson solution proved to be moderately priced, stiff enough to sustain the excavated hole wall, and lightweight for easy handling and hand placing by two-man crews.

Technical Description:

  • Product: CORLIX® corrugated aluminum pipe
  • Diameter(s): 24-inch, 30-inch & 36-inch
  • Length: 5' to 10' sections
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