Utility Commission Launches Pole Inspection Project
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Brandon Presley, Brandon Richardson, Cal Lambert, Bradley Hale and Barry Weeks meet Tuesday morning at City Hall as work begins on a system-wide inspection of Water Valley’s electric poles.
WATER VALLEY — A system-wide inspection and treatment of every electric pole in Water Valley is now underway, marking the first comprehensive effort of its kind in the city’s history.
The work, being carried out by Power Pole Maintenance Company of Alabama, is expected to take four to five weeks and will cover roughly 2,400 poles across the system.
Water Valley Utilities Commission Chairman Brandon Presley said the project is aimed at improving reliability, safety and long-term planning.
“There’s never been a treatment of these poles until we started this process,” Presley said. “This is about protecting what we’ve got and planning for what’s coming.”
Crews will inspect each pole by digging around the base, sounding the structure to check for internal damage and applying preservative treatments designed to extend the life of the pole.
“Treating these poles can extend their life at least 10 years, maybe more,” Presley said. “Every pole is going to be treated because none of them have been treated before.”
In addition to treatment, crews will identify poles that need replacement and those nearing the end of their service life, giving the city a roadmap for future budgeting.
“We’re not going to be guessing anymore,” Presley said. “We’ll know which poles need to come out and when.”
A crew with Power Pole Maintenance Company started treating utility poles in the city Tuesday morning.
The system includes approximately 1,874 primary poles and about 600 secondary poles, all of which will be inspected.
Cal Lambert, a representative with Power Pole Maintenance Company, said it will take around four weeks.
“You’ll see a crew in a marked truck, wearing safety green shirts and hard hats,” Lambert said. “We’ll be digging around each pole, inspecting it and treating it as needed.”
Residents may see crews working near their property as the inspection progresses.
The project also includes several upgrades, including assigning a number to every pole and collecting GPS data to create a complete digital map of the system.
“That’s going to save a tremendous amount of time,” Presley said. “We’ll know exactly where a problem is instead of searching for it.”
Crews will also identify poles that lack a guy wire marker and note those that are leaning or unstable.
“What we’re dealing with is generational,” Presley said. “Thirty or forty years of not having this documented. We’re compressing all of that into about a month.”
Presley said the project was already planned before Winter Storm Fern.
Once complete, officials say the work will improve maintenance planning and response times.
“It’s about reliability, safety and being good stewards of taxpayer money,” Presley said.
