Telegraph Poles (telephone posts)

[Meis]

I was asked at a function a few years ago by a man who was a big gun the wood industry, rather desperately, "why do so many people shy away from wooden structures?"

I answered "Because sometimes understanding, and I mean REALLY understanding, the structural behaviors of wood is somewhat of a dark art"

Many around me agreed.

Anyway my question: I have heard of in the US people who buy old telegraph poles, and cut them up into usable members to build "post barns"

It got me thinking about the structural integrity of telegraph poles used as columns at their full ~12m height.

If you pushed a pole to its extreme, or even aided it with some steel bracing and good solid footings, what kinds of loads do you think a telegraph pole could take? I'm thinking (possibly incorrectly) that telegraph poles might be a plausible substitute for comparably sized steel columns which may be prone to buckling anyway. Maybe even for some reinforced concrete columns? Maybe even married with steel in some way?

They're treated to be weather proof, quite sturdy; definitely recycling these poles is a great environmental alternative.

________________________________________

FOR EXAMPLE: I recently saw a very large residential building that had roughly a 3m cantilevered balcony, 3 storey’s above ground, sticking out of a reinforced concrete block work structure, there were 2 giant mothers of UCs on each corner of the balcony taking the load to the ground... or maybe they were there for aesthetic purposes (I don't know how much of the load they were taking), they were very close to the footpath, and I thought wow, think they could have been telegraph poles instead?? Would have been an interesting play with the street treatment.

________________________________________

Anyone, who has an opinion, what do you think?? How would you use them, how would you treat them to make this a plausible environmentally friendly solution?

Or am I nuts...?

It's just a thought.

 

[BAretired]

Timber piles have been used for many years to support all sorts of structures, including R/C structures.

BA

 

[Ron]

Yes, here in the US it is common to find utility poles doing retirement duty as the columns in a pole barn. Often that's after they've seen 15 or 20 years of exposure as utility poles, for electrical, phone, cable tv, or other utility services. They perform quite well for both applications.

It is ironic that they are often subjected to much lighter loading in their original service than as a column in a pole barn.

To answer your question, these poles can take some fairly significant vertical loads, easily on the order of 60 to 80 kips with appropriate fixity and bracing.

Another commonly re-used wood product is the railroad crosstie. They are used for retaining walls (not always a good idea, but plausible) and landscape applications. They are too short for much else.