Democratizing Pole Loading: Why Every Designer Needs Access to PLA

If you've checked the pricing for pole loading analysis (PLA) software lately, you know why lots of firms only have a couple of licenses.

It makes a lot of sense to control costs this way, but it creates bottlenecks on your senior engineers and limits designers' exposure to the tools that make each of their hours worked extremely valuable.

Every write user on a Katapult Pro Engineering Design subscription gets access to our integrated, real-time pole loading engine. There's no extra seat to buy, and nothing to add on when your team grows. The Engineering Design page lays out everything that comes with each seat.

What integrated pole loading means in Katapult Pro

Integrated pole loading (IPL) is a loading engine built into the Katapult Pro interface. While a designer works a pole, the engine calculates a loading percentage under the load case assigned to that pole, which is usually an NESC construction grade or a custom case the pole owner requires, and shows the result on the pole height photo. It works from the existing and proposed conditions already in the job, so the designer sees what a new attachment and its make ready moves do to the pole before anything leaves the platform.

If the mechanics of loading are new to your team, our Pole Loading 101 guide covers pole class, tensions, and loading districts. The integrated pole loading manual walks through the tools themselves.

More designers should be able to read a loaded pole

There's more attachment work waiting right now than there are designers who can create safe and reliable make ready packages. Put the engine in every seat and a designer six months into the job watches the loading percentage move as they reposition an attachment, upgrade an anchor or downguy strand, or change the conductor spec or tension.

After a few hundred poles of that, they start to recognize what pushes results over the line, and this is how you start to grow the next generation of senior designers.

Small firms get the same engine our own designers use every day. A shop with a handful of write users isn't working with a lighter version of anything.

That matters on the pole owner's side too. When more of the designers submitting applications can read a loaded pole, more of what lands on a joint use reviewer's desk has already been checked against the owner's own specs.

Export, run, fail, redesign, repeat is where the day goes

On per-pole unit work, the hours lost to export, run, fail, redesign, and export again don't create revenue. The reason you do it is because you care about the design. We built integrated pole loading so you can test 10 different make ready solutions in a matter of minutes, without juggling exports, waiting for analysis, or trying to remember to update the design in Katapult Pro.

Reposition an attachment or change the proposed pole and the loading percentage on that pole updates, using the existing and proposed data your crew already collected in the field. You can build the engine's model from the same SPIDAcalc client file, O-Calc Pro catalog, or PoleForeman database your pole owner works from, so you're designing against their specs from the first pole.

That's also why loading isn't a separate license. We price Katapult Pro on our costs plus a fair margin, and putting a toll on the tool that helps each designer finish more poles in an hour would work against the reason we built it. If your work does need files for an outside loading tool, the SPIDAcalc and O-Calc Pro exports are a separate add-on listed on our pricing page, so you can see the full number before you commit.

Where the engine stops

To be straight about the limits, IPL doesn't replace external PLA tools. Plenty of pole owners still want the final package run in one of them, and Katapult Pro exports your job to SPIDAcalc and O-Calc Pro, with more limited data sharing for PoleForeman. What the engine cuts is the number of round trips before that final run. By the time a pole goes out for the deliverable, you've already watched it pass, so the final run is usually a confirmation.

Every pass through export, run, and redesign is time a per-pole job doesn't get back. With integrated pole loading in every seat, your designers see the loading result while they work the pole and send it to external PLA once it already passes. Talk with our team about your pole owner's catalog or read the pole loading setup guide.

If you're already on Engineering Design

Every write user on your subscription has the engine today, once integrated loading is switched on in your job model. Most of the setup is getting the pole owner's specs into your model, and our pole loading guide covers what Katapult Pro handles and what your team needs to bring. If your pole owner hasn't shared specs yet, the basic integrated pole loading catalog gives you conservative results to start from.

Frequently Asked Questions About Integrated Pole Loading

Does integrated pole loading cost extra per seat in Katapult Pro?

No. Integrated pole loading is part of the Engineering Design plan, and you add write users at the same per-user rate whether or not they run loading. Exports to SPIDAcalc and O-Calc Pro are a separate add-on, listed on our pricing page.

Do I still need SPIDAcalc, O-Calc Pro, or PoleForeman?

Not to run integrated loading, because the engine runs inside Katapult Pro and needs no outside license. If your pole owner requires the final deliverable in a specific program, you'll still need a seat of that program to run the final analysis, and Katapult Pro will hand it your job data.

Can the engine use my pole owner's specs?

Yes. You can import a SPIDAcalc client file or an O-Calc Pro catalog into your model. If the pole owner hasn't shared specs, the basic integrated pole loading catalog gives conservative results to start from, and submitting those often gets a utility to send its real standards.

What does a pole need before the engine will load it?

Each pole needs a load case assigned, plus traced attachments, pole specs, wire and anchor specs, and hardware bearings. The readiness checklist in our pole loading guide covers each item.

Will pole owners accept integrated loading results?

Some do, and most will consider another engine's results if you can satisfy their standards in a demonstrable way (we are happy to help). The engine produces a downloadable PDF report for each pole. Many still mandate a specific program for the final package, which is why most teams use integrated loading during design and export for the deliverable. Ask your pole owner which format they require before you scope the job.

Getting integrated results in front of your pole owner

If you're looking to get IPL results approved by a pole owner, or want to talk more about how your current catalog can be used to set up both integrated results and one-click exports to external PLA, we'd love to help. Set up a time to talk it through with our team.

For more on the setup itself, our pole loading guide covers what Katapult Pro handles and what your team needs to bring, and our system page shows how field collection, design, and loading connect.