LAURINBURG — Beginning this week, residents in the city of Laurinburg could see contractors hired by the Public Works department on their property.

Laurinburg has retained contractors to perform inspections on utility poles throughout town. The poles will be checked for damage and their location mapped, according to Electric Utilities Director Jason Lighthall.

The work began on Monday.

“They will be inspected for decay, shell cracks, woodpecker holes, and top splits,” Lighthall said. “If it is split too far some of the equipment that is bolted at the top could malfunction, ground out or cause a power outage”

Ultrasonic tomography involves sending a sound wave through the wood in order to test its sturdiness. A technician drives nails into various points in the wood and attaches testers that emit the wave. The length of time that it takes the wave to pass through the wood is calculated. The longer it takes for the sound to pass through, the more decayed the structure is.

“They’ll use ultrasonic tomography to check the poles; they won’t do any drilling unless they find a pole that is really bad,” Lighthall said. “They’ll also be taking GPS coordinates and pictures to help build our data base.”

The coordinates and photos will help the city build a database that catalogues where each pole is and what, if any, equipment is attached to the pole. The database will help improve efficiency when responding to a repair need.

“In the database, you can go to each pole click on it and pull up. If anything happens in the future, we will know what we need before we go out whether that pole has a line, is an angle pole, whether its three phase or two phase or has a transformer,” Lighthall said.

The inspectors will be required to enter the yards of utility customers to complete the job.

There are currently two inspectors and one truck from Utility Asset Management. In the future four inspectors and two truck will be completing the task. The trucks will display signs reading: Contractor for the city of Laurinburg.

The assessments could take until February to complete, according to Lighthall.

Beth Lawrence|Laurinburg Exchange Inspectors from Utility Asset Management test electric poles along US 501/ John’s Road. The crews will be assessing power poles for the city until February.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_20171205_142023Processed.jpgBeth Lawrence|Laurinburg Exchange Inspectors from Utility Asset Management test electric poles along US 501/ John’s Road. The crews will be assessing power poles for the city until February.
Workers will need to enter residents’s yards

Beth Lawrence

Staff reporter

Reach Beth Lawrence 910-506-3169