Newfoundland Power

Newfoundland Power distributes electricity to over 256,000 customers in eastern Canada. Their grid covers an area of 155,000 square miles with almost 7,000 miles of distribution network across a wide variety of terrain.

In 2021, Newfoundland Power were faced with the challenge of replacing wooden pole stock in a highly sensitive water catchment area surrounding Windsor Lake which supplies water to the City of St Johns, Newfoundland.

This presented a challenge whereby if the new poles were treated with traditional preservatives there were concerns over the potential clean up required from wood preservatives leaching into St Johns watershed

The new poles were required to meet strict watershed restrictions, this included preventing water contamination from heavy metal or toxins which often leach into the soil surrounding poles treated with traditional wood preservatives.

Traditionally, installing new poles treated with wood preservative such as DCOI, CuNap, Pentachlorophenol or C.C.A. would require regular and costly remediation treatment that involves digging around the pole at different intervals over time, likely causing damage that Newfoundland Power wanted to avoid.

Newfoundland Power found Polesaver to be the ideal solution to their needs.

Untreated Western Red Cedar poles were potentially lasting up to 8 years (without wood preservative) due to ground-line decay reducing the pole’s service life.

As a result, Newfoundland Power sought to find a remedy to ground-line decay and Polesaver was identified as an ideal solution. When used in conjunction with untreated Western Red Cedar poles, the Polesaver protected pole stock would easily achieve the same lifespan as a traditional preservative-treated pole, but without the need for toxic chemicals.

This is because Polesaver increases the life of a wood pole by +20 years* from the start, meaning that pole life expectancy in this scenario is expected to reach 28 years due to the Polesaver Full Barrier Sleeve being applied prior to installation.*

This proven protection enables a +20 year increase in pole life from the start, which is why Polesaver’s full barrier sleeve is the ideal solution to helping Newfoundland Power meet all of its pole requirements while simultaneously helping them to significantly reduce their costs.

Each pole was fitted with two dual-layer composite Polesaver sleeves which covered and protected the pole down to 39 Inches below ground. Polesaver Plus protective sheet was also fitted to provide additional protection from stony ground conditions

Polesaver protection not only prevents leeching and soil contamination but, most importantly, creates an air and water-tight seal that is guaranteed to prevent ground-line rot by excluding all the factors required for wood decay, including oxygen, fungi & moisture.

*Polesaver has test data to confirm 26 years based on EN252 ,ENV807 & ANSI E8-10 -but +20 years is based on a more conservative – worst scenario.

Polesaver continues to work in partnership with Newfoundland Power to demonstrate that Polesaver is working as planned. We’re also providing innovative ideas on pole testing as part of our offering to demonstrate the difference of a wood pole with Polesaver versus a wood pole without.

To learn more about how Polesaver can benefit your utility get in touch with us today