Wood poles and aerial plant supported America's first communications revolution more than one hundred years ago. Twenty-first century communications utilize fiber optic cable and wireless broadband to carry video, voice, and data. Surprising as it seems, many of the components in these modern digital networks are now and will continue to be located on poles in distribution systems.
The FCC's recently announced National Broadband Plan recognizes the importance of access to poles for siting distributed antennas and wireless equipment. There is general agreement and support among utility regulators and management for Smart Grid technology implementation. The communications architecture that will link customers' home area networks to utility IT systems may utilize private or public networks, such as Verizon Wireless, to bridge the data gap. Either choice will require the location of wide area network devices on poles, close to meters and existing systems. One large eastern utility is building a distributed, solar generation system on top of hundreds of strategically located distribution poles. Poles continue to be a critical infrastructure component for modern telecommunications and electric service delivery.
Before new cable or equipment can be added to in-service poles, two questions must be answered.
Osmose has developed practical, cost-effective solutions to help utilities respond quickly to pole access requests.
Osmose Engineering Services include loading and clearance analysis, make-ready and replacement design, post-construction verification, pole strength upgrading, and system hardening. Osmose recently updated its widely used pole structural analysis software, O-Calc® with new features and imbedded Digital Measurement Technology (DMTTM). O-Calc Pro simplifies and automates the process of calculating structural loads on new or existing poles and includes a live, 3-D model. DMT allows users to accurately measure conductor heights, diameters, and clearances using digital images that can be captured easily and quickly in the field.
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