Break through the Backlog: Double Wood Resolution Workflows

Between new pole attachments and pole inspections, hundreds of thousands of poles get replaced every year. When each of those poles has anywhere from one to eight attachments, the transfer process takes months or even years. 

When that process lags, double wood conditions occur. Double wood is the purgatory state when two poles exist close to each other. It creates GIS issues for tracking and threatens the safety and reliability of the grid. 

The problem of double wood persists because of a lack of records—utilities are aware that double wood exists, but without information on where it’s located, resolution happens at random. 

Reducing and Resolving Double Wood 

Double wood backlogs build up because of poor records. When we don’t know where stub poles are, we can’t pull them. And too often, construction crews are sent out to pull poles only to find that they’ve already been removed or they still have attachments that need to be transferred. 

Reducing the backlog demands better records and management. But solving double wood altogether requires a workflow that addresses the deeper problems of why double wood occurs. 

Double Wood Resolution Workflows

Because double wood is a result of lagging transfers, resolution workflows need to work to speed up the transfer process. 

If at all possible, it’s best to do this by using one construction vendor who has an agreement with each attacher. This allows for a “one-touch pole transfer”, where one contractor has the ability to move all comms in one go and pull the pole. It avoids double wood altogether. 

While ideal, this isn’t always possible, and we need other options and processes that will help keep the process moving when the one-touch approach isn’t viable. 

The details of the double wood resolution process will look different depending on unique areas and pole owners. Cooperatives handle things differently from IOUs. Urban areas have different requirements and safety standards from suburban areas. Different states have different regulatory requirements for the double wood timeline. 

However, there are four big pieces that need to come together for any double wood resolution plan to truly be effective: 

1. Documentation

2. Notifications

3. Tracking 

4. Visibility 

Documentation

We already touched on how a lack of accurate data makes effective resolution nearly impossible. While double wood conditions crop up across pole owner footprints, utilities often don’t know where stub poles are located. Documentation is often inaccurate, with tickets outdated and field data missing. 

As a result, timely and efficient stub pole removal rarely happens. Construction crews provide the most updated info on conditions when what they find in the field doesn’t match their construction plan. 

But this process drains dollars and wastes calendar days. The longer double wood persists, the higher the risk to the grid and the communities in the area. 

Instead, resolution needs to leverage both existing documentation and records and gather new information as needed. Customer complaints, pole replacement records, recent photo data collection for permitting, ticketing systems, and more can give teams a starting place for where double wood may exist. 

From there, clerical staff can use a tool with integrated street view to assess suspected double wood locations before sending field crews out to confirm the existence of double wood. 

Double wood resolution within Katapult Pro lets you map out and resolve double wood conditions with fewer field visits.

Notifications

Part of the transfer lag occurs because attachers don’t know when it’s their turn to move attachments, and aren’t reminded regularly that they need to make the adjustments. 

Robust and consistent notification systems make sure that attachers are aware when it’s their turn to move. In some states with more strict compliance timelines, utilities are allowed to move the attachment on behalf of the attacher. These notifications should also include warnings that the attachers must recoup the utility if too much time passes. 

Common notification processes take the form of a ticketing system or portal, with auto-emails and notifications and timelines coordinated in one location. 

(Again, the best option is to use one contractor to make all the moves, which allows the utility to manage the resolution process independently from attachers.) 

Tracking

Whatever the notification system used, it should include some form of tracking. For one, tracking gives pole owners and their engineering firms updates on the resolution process at a glance, so they can identify where the process is lagging and where bottlenecks keep occurring. If we don’t know what’s happening, we can’t keep things on track. 

Tracking also helps ensure program goals and compliance with state regulations to avoid fines. Part of building a healthy, effective program is setting and meeting metrics and requirements. Without tracking, it’s nearly impossible to have confidence that we’re meeting benchmarks. 

Visibility and Standardization

Workflows work because they’re set processes that the entire team and all stakeholders can understand and follow. Without clear and consistent processes, the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Data gets siloed, or forked spreadsheets destroy records. 

A standardized and visible workflow tailored to specific areas and programs keeps everyone aligned and makes it easier to roll out changes as needs shift. When there’s a determined method with clarity about who does what and when they do it, we can work together to do things right. 

Records don’t get misplaced–in fact, we can keep better records by reusing data from maintenance, make ready, inspections, and other processes. We all work from one set of data we can trust, and attachers know who goes next, and when they need to make their move. A documented process makes it that much easier to address the backlog should it pile up.

To do this, we need a full-stack solution that addresses every piece of the double wood resolution process. That means determining what location assessment, deployment planning and mapping, in-field documentation, attachment communications, and pole removal should look like. It also means adjusting that process when necessary to make sure that it’s the most effective. 

A Long-Last Solution Relies on Living Workflows 

Improving workflows never stops– new challenges and changes to the industry, regulations, and safety standards demand that we stay flexible and adaptable across all spheres of work. 

The double wood process is no different. Workflows are only as effective as they are flexible. If your current process for resolving double wood conditions doesn’t give you the ability to adapt and improve, it’s going to foster backlogs. 

Create a double wood resolution workflow that helps solve double wood and avoid it altogether with better data, better communication, better tracking, and a cohesive approach. Talk to our team today!

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