Double Wood Defined: The Problem with Buddy Poles

It’s safe to assume there are approximately 170 million utility poles in the United States. If about 2.5% of all poles are replaced each year, we’re looking at approximately 4.25 million poles being replaced every year. Usually, pole replacements have attachments, and when the attachment process lags, those poles are stuck for months (or more likely years) in a purgatory state referred to as double wood. 

With 170 million poles, 4.25 million being replaced annually, and double wood resolution taking one to two years (conservatively), it’s safe to say there’s something like 5 to 7 million double wood poles across the US. 

And with the increasing complexity of attachments, with poles having anywhere from 7-8 attachments, it gets incredibly difficult to manage replacements and resolve double wood quickly. These situations create serious problems for the grid and utilities trying to bring safe, reliable services. 

Double wood refers to the purgatory state where two utility poles, an old one and a new one, are left next to each other, instead of the old pole being removed. Usually, this occurs because the transfer process has lagged on for years. 

Why Does Double Wood Happen?

Double wood poles are two poles–one new, one old– that exist in close proximity to each other while the replacement process lags. The new pole contains the power, but the old pole still holds all the attachments.

When poles fail routine inspection, get hit by a car, or are not large enough to handle new attachments, they get replaced. A new pole goes in, the power is added to the new pole, and the first attacher on the old pole is notified to move their attachment. Before the old, stub pole can be pulled up, all the attachments have to be switched over. 

Unfortunately, the process usually takes over a year, coordinating with so many attachers. Plus, as field conditions change and people do transfer their attachments, the state of double wood conditions is rarely updated. 

This means that utilities don’t always know who the next attacher is or even when a stub pole is ready to be removed. 

The result is ongoing double wood poles dotted across the country.

Communication Complications- Communicating between attachers and utilities is difficult enough as is. When the number of attachments keeps growing, communication difficulties keep growing too. 

Unclear Records- Resolving double wood utility poles relies on accurate and updated data to reference. Without good data or when records get distorted or siloed, teams don’t know which locations have double wood and which ones don’t. 

Notification System Issues- Notification systems are the primary way to communicate, but they have their own shortcomings. When tickets don’t get updated or aren’t processed, the transfer process stalls, and the real conditions are unclear. 

What’s the Problem with Double Wood Utility Poles?

Double wood doesn’t just look bad, although neighborhoods and customers don’t love the look either. The real issue has to do with asset management, grid safety, compliance, and wasted resources. 

Asset Management and the Double Wood Problem

GIS ties assets to their true geolocations on the map. When two assets are very close to each other, it’s really hard to track each of them independently. 

Double wood by definition is when two assets sit too close to one another. When you’re trying to continue work on the stub pole but you’re also tracking any potential changes or work performed on the new pole, GIS management really starts to get messy. 

The end result is skewed records and missing data. Without reliable documentation, it’s hard to manage and prioritize areas. When data gets too messy, teams have to overhaul their records using inventories or audits, which cost time and money. 

Grid Safety 

Pole inspections trigger double wood because failing poles need to be replaced, and replaced poles need attachment transfers. As we’ve already said, that can take years. In the meantime, the failing pole sits there, jeopardizing the entire grid. 

The whole reason poles get replaced is because they are no longer safe—they failed pole loading, got hit by a car, or are rotting or decaying. Double wood increases the risk of grid failure and liability for the pole owner, who is responsible if the pole falls over. 

The longer the pole sits around, the greater the risk to the grid and the community. 

Compliance and Customer Satisfaction

Utilities are beholden to PUCs and PUDs—commissions that regulate rates and manage and oversee utilities. When customers continue to complain to these governing bodies about the quality of services, PUCs may decrease the rates utilities can charge their customers. After all, if the services aren’t up to standard, the costs should go down for customers. 

This means that the utility is responsible for greater costs and doesn’t necessarily get fully recouped for their expenses. What does this have to do with double wood? Customers can file complaints whenever they feel the utility isn’t providing the services they’re charging for. Those include issues like outages, slow service, downtimes, or double wood. 

Our home state of Pennsylvania is currently in the process of creating legislation to help resolve double wood faster, letting pole owners move attachments when necessary to get rid of the stub pole in a timely manner.

Wasted Resources

Too often, double wood “resolution” involves sending out construction crews to go pull stub poles, only to find that the pole has already been removed or there are still attachments on it. On the one hand, you have new information about the condition of the pole. On the other, you paid a construction company to do nothing, and still have to sort out next steps. 

The costs of labor for multiple site visits, contractor fees, and equipment expenses add up, and if stub poles aren’t removed or no longer exist, there’s nothing to show for these costs. 

It’s a waste of time and resources, and it could be solved with data collection and management. 

There’s also a lot of potential costs due to lawsuits and penalties from being noncompliant, depending on the governing body’s regulations. 

What to do about Double Wood?

While the situation often feels hopeless, it’s not. Double wood conditions are constantly growing and occurring, but teams have found strategies to resolve those situations faster. 

One Contractor for Faster Double Wood Removals  

Some utilities have found success by hiring one contractor to move all the comms attachments at once and remove the stub pole immediately. 

This avoids the communication issue altogether (other than just notifying attachers) and keeps double wood from sitting for years on end. 

Tech to Reduce Communication Delays

Technology is continuously changing the way that we handle communication and construction.

For example, some teams have used AI to identify double wood conditions, with varying degrees of success. More common are integrated software platforms that improve the communication process with attachers and utilities, to make sure attachers keep the transfer process rolling. 

Mobile apps can improve field collection and documentation, helping keep records accurate so that utilities know the state of double wood and don’t send out construction crews unnecessarily. Better GIS systems can also help manage double wood better when it does drag on, differentiating between closely positioned assets.

Improving the Double Wood Situation

While double wood remains a significant challenge, understanding its causes and the impact can help utilities develop better management strategies. Frequent pole inspections and improved record keeping help utilities pinpoint double wood utilities and track them using verified snapshots of double wood conditions.

However, the best way to handle double wood poles is to avoid them altogether with clear communication and rapid construction work. 

First, teams have to find ways to address the backlog of double wood issues that have built up over time. Then, we need to build and leverage a better process that helps avoid double wood backlogs from occurring in the future, starting with communication processes and workflows that don’t allow double wood conditions to go untracked or unaddressed. 

Better communication leads to less double wood, less backlog, and fewer risks—building a stronger, more reliable grid.  Now, you can use Katapult Pro for double wood resolution for better communication and faster resolution!

Thanks for reading! For more information on double wood and double wood resolution, reach out to our team! 

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