LCC TK3231 .S57 2021 (print) | LCC TK3231 (ebook) | DDC 621.319/22–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031214
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020031215
Cover design by Wiley
Cover image: © stevenfoley/Getty Images
I dedicate this book to two groups of people. First of all, to my wife, Helen, our children and their spouses, and, of course, our grandchildren, who are all quite special. I also dedicate this manual to the colleagues and friends that I have known and had the pleasure to work with over the past decades. I have had the good fortune of being able to continue to pursue my technical interests and activities into my “semi-retirement” years, while participating in professional organizations, as well as providing services on behalf of my clients, who have treated me with courtesy and respect.
About the Author
Dr. Lawrence (Larry) M. Slavin is Principal of Outside Plant Consulting Services, Inc. which was established in the year 2002 to help meet the needs of the telecommunications and power industries in establishing standards, guidelines, and practices for outside plant (outdoor) facilities and products. Larry has extensive experience and expertise in such activities, based upon his many years of service at AT&T/Lucent Bell Telephone Laboratories (Distinguished Member of Technical Staff) in telecommunications product design and development, followed by a career at Telcordia Technologies (now Ericsson, formerly Bellcore) in its research and professional service organizations. As Principal Consultant and Manager/Director of the Network Facilities, Components and Energy Group at Telcordia, he provided technical leadership in developing installation practices and “generic requirements” documents, introducing new construction methods, and performing analyses on a wide variety of technologies and products. Throughout his long career, Larry has had a leading role in the evolution of many telecommunications related fields and disciplines, for both overhead and belowground lines. Larry received his Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and his Master's and PhD degrees from New York University. He lives with his wife, Helen, in White Meadow Lake in north central New Jersey.
Preface
This manual provides a general overview of the use of utility distribution poles for electric supply and communication applications. The intended audience includes utility engineers as well as those without a technical background, but who desire an understanding of the principles and various issues related to their application. The book is more an introduction to the subject than a detailed design, installation, or operations handbook and is not a replacement for the normal training and experiences typically required for either power or communications engineers responsible for the design, operation, and maintenance of overhead lines. This manual is a compendium of practical engineering and design information for poles and supported facilities, enhanced with some technical details that are not readily available elsewhere, that will prove to be helpful in some utility applications. The book is not intended to cover construction practices, which items are appropriately covered elsewhere, such as The Lineman's and Cableman's Handbook and the Telcordia Blue Book – Manual of Construction Procedures.
Information is provided on the physical characteristics of various types of utility poles, overhead supply and communication wires and cables, joint-use issues and related safety rules, including national standards and other related documents. The single most relevant document is the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC®), which is adopted or reflected in various regulations or industry practices throughout most of the United States and its territories. Other relevant documents include national standard ANSI O5.1 Wood Poles: Specifications and Dimensions and as well as various ASCE manuals, and documents produced by the Rural Utilities Service (RUS). The State of California is unique in that it has produced its own rules prescribed for overhead lines under the jurisdiction of its Public Utilities Commission, General Order No. 95 Rules for Overhead Electric Line Construction.
It was the original intention that this manual be published to include any new information contained in the upcoming (2022) edition of the NESC. However, the possible delayed availability of this edition, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, suggested that it would be more beneficial to base the manual on the current (2017) edition of the NESC, presented in a manner consistent with the publically available Pre-Print for the 2022 edition, rather than delay the publication of this manual. It is also recognized that, in most cases, based on the “grandfather” clause of the NESC, any new rules would only be applicable to newly constructed pole lines.
The information in this document is believed to be accurate at the time of its preparation, but is provided without any warranty, expressed or implied.
Lawrence M. Slavin, PhD
New York University, 1969
Acknowledgments
The author expresses his sincere appreciation to those that helped facilitate this publication, ranging from the courteous and efficient staff at Wiley-IEEE Press, and Ernesto Vega Janica at IEEE, to those that provided a technical review of this manual. In this regard, I particularly thank Trevor Bowmer and Dave Marne for their detailed formal review of the entire manual, which I recognize required a significant effort. I am also grateful to Martin Rollins, Andy Stewart, and Sam Stonerock for their review of specific portions of the manual. I consider myself fortunate to have colleagues that were willing to devote the extra time and energy, in addition to their many other obligations, to help me complete this project. However, any possible errors in the published document are my own responsibility, in spite of the best efforts of the reviewers.
1 Introduction
1.1 Scope
This manual presents a brief description of typical practices for the design, installation, and usage of overhead utility distribution lines, providing an understanding of the basic principles, and facilitating the subsequent pursuit of the technology and issues in greater detail, as desired or appropriate. It is not, however, the intention of this document to provide or duplicate existing detailed design, construction, or installation specifications and information as presently employed by the various electric supply and communications utilities for their overhead facilities. Such information is available within the individual utilities or their representative organizations.
Although some of the information in this manual is applicable to a variety of overhead applications, including high-voltage transmission lines, the focus of the information is on the local distribution systems, closer to the customer or subscriber end of the grid. This portion of the network is typically characterized by efficient joint-use applications in which electric supply and communications facilities are in reasonably close proximity, supported on the same physical structures, but with strict rules and guidelines to help ensure reliable operation and the safety of both the public and the utility workers. These systems are characterized by significant variability between the facilities supported on each pole, and frequent changes based on customer need, and are generally not subject to the same level of physical design detail as the electrical transmission lines. Indeed, it would be neither practical nor cost-effective to perform a detailed, sophisticated structural analysis on every pole in a distribution line. In contrast,
