New sensor technology can save large sums on maintenance of power and telephone poles

The wooden poles that carry power and telephone lines must be regularly inspected to ensure they don’t pose a risk to the infrastructure. The inspections are conducted manually and are resource-intensive and costly. Rot in the wooden poles is a particular challenge as it is often not visible from the outside but can significantly weaken the wood and thereby reduce its lifespan.

Researchers at NORCE and the Department of Physics at NMBU in Grimstad have now developed a method that can help reduce maintenance costs. They have investigated whether rot in wooden poles can be detected from a distance using new sensor technology - a hyperspectral camera:

– A hyperspectral camera records a spectrum per pixel and can thus see the chemical composition of the object. I have researched the detection of rot in wood with this camera," explains senior researcher Arnoud Jochemsen at NORCE.

The new method combines radar and lasers with hyperspectral cameras to analyze the condition of the poles.

– With the hyperspectral camera, we can study the surface, while use the radar to look inside the pole, explains Jochemsen.

The knowledge from this research can be extremely useful for utility companies, which today replace many poles long before it is actually necessary. Investigations of old wooden poles show that 70% were replaced prematurely. If the technology is scaled up and widely implemented, it could lead to poles standing longer. This can both contribute to more efficient infrastructure operation and provide significant economic savings for the utility companies.

The project Remote Inspection of Wooden Utility Poles has been financed by a grant from the Norwegian Research Council.