New Product: Composite Utility Poles

Transmission Innovations has been a leader in bringing FRP products to the electrical industry. As the leading supplier of patent-protected FRP cross arms and cross braces, we’ve now added composite utility poles to our product line. In this post, we’ll introduce some of the key components of these new composite utility poles.

Advanced UV Protection
Our utility poles contain three layers of UV protection.

  1. Hindered Amine Light Stabilizers (HALS) are mixed into the thermoset resin and function as long-term thermal and light stability promoters.
  2. A 10 mil polyester surfacing veil encompasses the poles to create a resin-rich surface and protect the glass reinforcements from fiber blooming.
  3. The poles are coated with a 3 mil (wet) high-performance paint.

Resin/Matrix
Our utility poles are pultruded with a high-performance Vinyl Ester (VE) resin based on a bisphenol-A epoxy matrix. The VE resin is utilized for its superior toughness and fatigue attributes, providing fire-retardant properties in the event of a brush or pole top fire. The poles are classified as “self-extinguishing” per UL94 with a V0 rating. The flame spread rating per ASTM E-84 is Class I with a Flame Spread Index (FSI) of 25 or less.

Fiberglass Reinforcements
All composite utility poles are manufactured with electrical grade E-glass reinforcements in the form of unidirectional roving, Continuous Filament Mat (CFM), and stitched fabric mats. All E-glass reinforcements meet a minimum tensile strength of 290 ksi per ASTM D2343.

Top Caps and Base Plugs
Our top caps and base plugs are engineered to prevent rodent and insect infestation. The Low-Density Polyethylene and FRP caps and plugs are custom molded to snugly fit the poles. The base plug provides foundation support to keep the hollow pole from shearing into the soil.

Aesthetics
The poles come standard in a Brown-Gray color, RAL7013. Custom colors are available upon request.

To learn more about composite utility poles, contact us for an expert consultation.

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