Test and Treat

Today's question: What kind of maintenance do you do on your transmission poles?

Thanks for the question. Every summer, Yukon Energy carries out a transmission pole "Test and Treat" program. This year’s work took place on the Ross River and Keno City lines.

"Test and Treat" is a program to inspect the condition of our transmission poles. Inspectors look for defects such as internal rot, ant colonies and other damage. They also re-treat poles internally with preservative.

The work is carried out by an outside contractor (Provincial Pole Specialists have been working with us for the past few years) who specializes in wood pole assessment and maintenance.

The contractor checks the internal and below-ground portions of the pole for defects that may not be immediately obvious or visible. We use the field inspection results to develop and prioritize our annual work plan for transmission pole and structure replacements.

In the photos on the left, you can see the stub of a pole on the Aishihik line that was replaced based on a previous inspection. Visually the pole appears to be in good shape, but a closer look (see photo on the right) reveals the internal rot which was the driver for the structure replacement.