TRAINING COURSE:
Setting and Replacing Poles
Course Category: Transmission and Distribution
Course description: The purpose of this course is to teach how to set a pole and two methods of manual replacement of an existing pole. The most common method of setting poles using power equipment is demonstrated first. Because power equipment may not always be available or may not be able to reach the job site, two manual methods of replacing poles are demonstrated. At the conclusion of this course, participants should be able to describe and demonstrate how to set a pole using a derrick. They should be able to describe and demonstrate how to set a pole in a hole adjacent to an existing pole by rigging off of the existing pole. They should also be able to describe and demonstrate how to replace a pole with a new pole in the same hole.
Course syllabus:
- Digging the Hole
- Describe the requirements that should be considered before a hole is dug to set a utility pole
- Describe or demonstrate how to dig a hole for a utility pole using a digger derrick, a portable power digger, and manual digging tools
- Pole Setting Using a Derrick
- Describe how a digger derrick may be used to lift and set a utility pole in an open, unobstructed area
- Describe how a digger derrick may be used to lift and set a utility pole around energized lines or obstacles
- Manual Pole Setting
- Describe how a pole can be manually set in an open area
- Describe how a pole can be manually set in an area that contains obstacles
- Describe how an old pole may be safely removed after a replacement pole has been installed and the energized lines have been transferred
- Identify the basic components of a typical hand-operated pole jack and explain how the jack is used
- Describe how a utility pole can be set by lifting and supporting it with pikes
- Manual Pole Replacement
- Describe how a replacement utility pole can be set in the same hole as the pole it is replacing by using the “cut and kick” method
- Describe some of the rigging considerations associated with using the “cut and kick” method
*This course is discounted for NATE members.
