Utility Poles Research Articles

Do crows nest on utility poles near urban green areas?

Do crows nest on utility poles near urban green areas?

Damage of utility poles caused by 15th Typhoon of 2019 and its impact on the social acceptance of undergrounding and utility pole removal projects

Damage of utility poles caused by 15th Typhoon of 2019 and its impact on the social acceptance of undergrounding and utility pole removal projects

Quantitative analysis on sequential road landscape with overlapping of utility poles and mountains

Quantitative analysis on sequential road landscape with overlapping of utility poles and mountains

Surviving the Urban Jungle: Anthropogenic Threats, Wildlife-Conflicts, and Management Recommendations for African Crowned Eagles

Larger carnivores often trigger human-wildlife conflicts that arise from perceived threats to humans and domestic animals’ safety, which generate the need for management and removal strategies. These issues become especially challenging when humans and wildlife coexist close to one another, for example, in urban landscapes. African Crowned Eagles (Stephanoaetus coronatus) are powerful forest raptors that breed within the metropolitan green-space system of Durban and Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Negative human-wildlife interactions can occur because eagles occasionally predate on pets, such as cats (Felis catus) and small dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), and provisioning domestic stock to nest sites has previously been quantified. Here, wildlife management becomes critical, usually aimed at reducing or eliminating causes of economic or social harm, but have to be balanced against conservation goals regarding threatened species. In this study, we (i) identified causes of harm or loss of Crowned Eagles because of injuries (n = 53 incidents; 31 mortalities); and (ii) describe interactions with negative perceptions to human livelihoods, particularly concerning predation on pets and livestock. Anthropogenic causes of mortality were more likely to be reported than remote natural deaths, which provides important opportunities for mitigation measures. Most avoidable are electrocution on utility poles, persecution via gunshot wounds and poisoning (targeted or secondary), while collisions with anthropogenic structures, such as glass panes, vehicles and fence wires, are more challenging to mitigate. Out of 44 verified Crowned Eagle vs. pets and livestock conflicts, we documented 19 dog attacks (2012–2020), with detrimental impacts on social perception and acceptance of urban eagles. Pet and livestock conflicts were primarily associated with juveniles and immature eagles (83%). Of these, 19% occurred during September alone, which marks the end of the post-fledging dependency period; 70% occurred outside the breeding season. We provide management recommendations regarding various categories of Crowned Eagle human-wildlife interactions. For example, activities such as rehabilitation and falconry can coordinate to achieve a high standard of public support and conservation outcomes for Crowned Eagles. Finally, we discuss using different management intervention strategies, including rehabilitation, falconry, re-wildling processes, and lethal control of specific “problem” individuals toward achieving the goal of sustainable, healthy Crowned Eagle populations that coexist with humans in urban landscapes.

Structural Health Assessment of Timber Utility Poles Using Stress Wave Propagation and Artificial Neural Network Techniques

Structural Health Assessment of Timber Utility Poles Using Stress Wave Propagation and Artificial Neural Network Techniques

Large-Scale Visual Data–Driven Probabilistic Risk Assessment of Utility Poles Regarding the Vulnerability of Power Distribution Infrastructure Systems

AbstractInspecting and assessing existing utility poles has become increasingly important for reducing the vulnerability of power distribution infrastructure systems in disaster situations, which c...

The effect of local weather conditions and nest box location on the reproduction of the Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) in the farmland of eastern Poland

Artificial nests like nest boxes are commonly used to improve the reproductive output and population status of wild birds and advance our understanding of their evolutionary ecology. To investigate how the location of nest boxes and local weather conditions affect Common Kestrel reproduction (number of fledglings), 319 broods from 173 nest boxes in east-central Poland were examined. Of the six meteorological parameters analysed, only mean temperature and maximum temperature were selected as the best model. Mean daily temperature had a positive effect but maximum temperature a negative one on Common Kestrel reproduction. The first egg laying date was negatively correlated with the number of fledglings. Contrary to the assumption that trees should offer a superior microclimate in the canopy, nest boxes placed on utility poles have the same numbers of fledglings. The area of the main habitat type is not decisive in Common Kestrel productivity either. These findings may be helpful for ongoing conservation programmes and confirm that utility poles should be the preferred form of deployment of nest boxes as they are easier to monitor and maintain.

Design and evaluation of directional antenna for shoe-mounted sensor for position identification of elderly wanderer

Monitoring system with Bluetooth low energy (BLE) beacons is promising for position identification of elderly wanderers. BLE beacons can be mounted in shoes for convenience, and a shoe-mounted directional antenna is expected to efficiently radiate the beacon signals to the data server of the monitoring system. In this paper, a directional array antenna with planar or curved structure was designed on the shoe surface for this purpose. The antenna was designed to sweep diagonally upward from 10° to 50°, and the simulated and measured S11 performances revealed reasonable agreement. The antenna was assumed to be used in an urban environment, and a directional patch array antenna with dielectric lens was also designed to receive beacon signals by mounting it on utility poles. According to a feasibility experiment result of elderly wanderer position identification, the designed directional antenna can provide an almost 100% position identification rate if a wanderer is within 20m from a smart phone user.

Tree Extraction from Airborne Laser Scanning Data in Urban Areas

Tree information in urban areas plays a significant role in many fields of study, such as ecology and environmental management. Airborne LiDAR scanning (ALS) excels at the fast and efficient acquisition of spatial information in urban-scale areas. Tree extraction from ALS data is an essential part of tree structural studies. Current raster-based methods that use canopy height models (CHMs) suffer from the loss of 3D structure information, whereas the existing point-based methods are non-robust in complex environments. Aiming at making full use of the canopy’s 3D structure information that is provided by point cloud data, and ensuring the method’s suitability in complex scenes, this paper proposes a new point-based method for tree extraction that is based on 3D morphological features. Considering the elevation deviations of the ALS data, we propose a neighborhood search method to filter out the ground and flat-roof points. A coarse extraction method, combining planar projection with a point density-filtering algorithm is applied to filter out distracting objects, such as utility poles and cars. After that, a Euclidean cluster extraction (ECE) algorithm is used as an optimization strategy for coarse extraction. In order to verify the robustness and accuracy of the method, airborne LiDAR data from Zhangye, Gansu, China and unmanned aircraft vehicle (UAV) LiDAR data from Xinyang, Henan, China were tested in this study. The experimental results demonstrated that our method was suitable for extracting trees in complex urban scenes with either high or low point densities. The extraction accuracy obtained for the airborne LiDAR data and UAV LiDAR data were 99.4% and 99.2%, respectively. In addition, a further study found that the aberrant vertical structure of the artificially pruned canopy was the main cause of the error. Our method achieved desirable results in different scenes, with only one adjustable parameter, making it an easy-to-use method for urban area studies.

The eigenvalues of a partially embedded flexural, prismatic column

AbstractMotivated from a large number of transmission and distribution utility poles that experience excessive vibrations during wind storms, this paper presents the eigenvalue analysis of a partially embedded flexural, prismatic column with ' length, , and exposed length, , and accounts for the interaction with the soil of its embedded portion. The study shows that the dynamics of a partially embedded prismatic column depend solely on the embedment ratio, and a dimensionless stiffness that expresses the relative stiffness between the soil surrounding the embedded length (level of fixity) and the exposed portion of the flexural column. A partially embedded prismatic column exhibits a finite number of eigenmodes that are lower than its rigid‐body mode, while the associated eigenfrequencies are lower than the corresponding eigenfrequencies of the fixed‐end cantilever (fec). For a typical value of the embedment ratio 0.15, the paper uncovers that for any eigenmode , of the fec, the partially embedded, prismatic column exhibits eigenmodes. The appearance of this additional eigenmode/eigenvalue happens invariably for any embedment ratio due to soil–structure interaction and is associated with the way that the flexural patterns of the partially embedded column emerge from the ground. The paper shows that the additional eigenmode/eigenvalue of the partially embedded column is also predicted with open‐source and commercially available finite‐element software.

Streetlights positively affect the presence of an invasive grass species.

Anthropogenic disturbances associated with urban ecosystems can create favorable conditions for populations of some invasive plant species. Light pollution is one of these disturbances, but how it affects the growth and establishment of invasive plant populations is unknown. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) is a problematic invasive species where it has displaced native grassland communities in the United States, but to our knowledge, there have been no studies of the ecological factors that affect cheatgrass presence in urban ecosystems. We conducted field surveys in urban alleys in Denver, Colorado, to compare the presence of cheatgrass at sites with and without artificial light at night (hereafter artificial light) from streetlights. These streetlights are mounted on utility poles, which cause ground disturbance when installed in alleys; we were able to test the independent effect of poles on cheatgrass establishment because not all poles have streetlights on them. We found that cheatgrass was positively associated with the presence of streetlights and to a lesser extent poles. In addition to cheatgrass, we also found that other plants were positively associated with the presence of both poles and streetlights. Our results suggest that artificial light may benefit the occurrence of cheatgrass and other plant species in urban settings. While invasive populations of cheatgrass in wild habitats attract the most attention from managers, we suggest more consideration for this grass in urban environments where its growth and establishment benefit from anthropogenic changes.

Structural health assessment techniques for in-service timber poles

Timber utility poles are widely used in power distribution and telecommunication networks. Wood is subjected to deterioration with time, and routine condition assessment works are carried out for in-service timber poles to identify potential defects and their extent for renewal planning. These condition assessment methods need to be reliable and accurate to represent the actual status of poles. Incorrect interpretations regarding the structural integrity of poles may lead to premature pole replacements due to misdiagnosed defects or pole failures due to overlooked defects. The aim of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review of various condition assessment techniques for in-service timber poles. The paper reviews the conventional pole inspection methods, semi-destructive techniques and recent developments in non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques. The performance of these techniques is compared and their relative advantages and shortcomings are discussed. Further, the timber deterioration modelling techniques are outlined along with the probabilistic approaches for the condition assessment of timber poles. Finally, potential research gaps that need to be addressed in the future to overcome the issues related to the condition assessment of timber poles are discussed.

Effects of anthropogenic habitat disturbance on the home range size and habitat preference of the Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)

Abstract: The Eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is a vulnerable species with decreasing population density from anthropogenic development and habitat loss. To determine the impact of electric utility pole replacement and vegetation maintenance on the home range size and habitat preference of T. carolina carolina, we radio-tagged 13 box turtles and located them weekly from April to November 2019, recording several habitat measurements at each location. We performed a principal component analysis of vegetation data and estimated home range size using 95% minimum convex polygon (MCP), kernel, and Brownian-bridge methods. Our data indicate that turtles prefer shrub cover and avoid rocky areas. While there was no significant difference between male and female home range size, a post hoc analysis dividing females into right-of-way (ROW) and non-ROW groups revealed a significant difference in female home range size, which may result from accessibility of higher-quality nesting sites within the ROW compared with surrounding forest stands.

Lesser Prairie‐Chicken Survival in Varying Densities of Energy Development

ABSTRACTAnthropogenic features increasingly affect ecological processes with increasing human demand for natural resources. Such effects also have the potential to vary depending on the sex and age of an individual because of inherent behavioral and life experience differences. For the lesser prairie‐chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus), studies on male survival are limited because most previous research has been focused on females. To better understand patterns of lesser prairie‐chicken survival in habitat with varying levels of anthropogenic infrastructure associated with oil and natural gas development, we monitored survival of 178 radio‐tagged male and female lesser prairie‐chickens in eastern New Mexico, USA, from 2013 to 2015. We examined the relationships of shrub cover, proximity to and density of anthropogenic features (i.e., utility poles), displacement of natural vegetation by anthropogenic features (i.e., area of roads and well pads), and individual demographics (i.e., sex, age) with lesser prairie‐chicken survival. Furthermore, we categorized the probable cause of mortality and examined its relationship with oil and gas development intensity (indexed by utility pole density) within 1,425 m of an individual's mortality site or final observed location. We predicted that survival would be lower for individuals exposed to greater levels of anthropogenic features, and that males and subadults would be more negatively affected than females and adults because of increased exposure to predators during the lekking season and naiveté. Relationships between survival and utility pole density, sex, and age were supported in our top‐ranked models, whereas models including other anthropogenic and natural features (i.e., roads, well pads, shrub cover) received little support. We predicted a substantial decrease in adult and subadult male survival with increasing densities of utility poles. The relationship between survival and utility pole density for females was weaker and not as clearly supported as for males. We did not find a detectable difference in utility pole counts among probable mortality causes. Our findings highlight the importance of including male lesser prairie‐chickens in research and conservation planning, and the negative effect that high densities of anthropogenic features can have on lesser prairie‐chicken survival. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

Influence of concrete on patch antennas on small ground plane

In order to deploy a lot of 5G base stations, there is a method of installing them on utility poles and building walls. In this paper, antennas installed on them for 5G base stations are investigated numerically and experimentally. We examine the minimum ground plane size to remove the influence of concrete and embedded reinforced bars. We also verify the effects on the input characteristics and radiation pattern by measurement.

Use of Eucalyptus grandis clones treated with a water repellent to improve the dimensional stability of utility poles

Wood is a common construction material used in most environments. However, its sensibility to abiotic agents, in particular those that affect the dimensional stability, limits the materials durability and decreases its properties. In this work, the efficiency of a paraffin-emulsion-based product as a water repellent, combined with the selection of Eucalyptus grandis clones with a low cracking index, was tested for its use in utility poles in order to improve the woods dimensional stability. Four selected Eucalyptus grandis clones were treated with the product mixed with Chromated Copper Arsenate - the most commonly used wood protector - in a single stage by the Bethell method at two retention levels. The dimensional stability of the treated samples was studied through the determination of anti-shrink efficiency. Test samples were also exposed to accelerated weathering processes for 200 h, and later analyzed by SEM microscopy. Results showed a significant improvement in the dimensional stability of treated wood when compared to samples without the water repellent, with variable efficacy depending on the clone used. Despite the weathering process slightly affected the appearance of the wood surface, the product is suitable for exterior use

The 16 September 2015 Illapel Earthquake and Tsunami: Post-Event Tsunami Inundation, Building and Infrastructure Damage Survey in Coquimbo, Chile

The 16 September 2015 MW8.3 Illapel Earthquake generated a tsunami that caused severe building and infrastructure damage in Coquimbo, Chile. Initial reports indicated numerous buildings, transport, energy, water and coastal protection structures sustained varying levels of damage in response to tsunami exposure. A digital ‘census style’ survey was carried out in Coquimbo to measure and record tsunami hazard characteristics and associated buildings and infrastructure network component damage. Flow depths measured from 655 watermarks ranged from 0.1 to 4.7 m, with a 1.47 m mean and 1.02 m standard deviation. Over 3000 damage samples were recorded for tsunami exposed buildings and infrastructure components. Damage levels for 545 buildings showed most sustained partial but repairable damage at tsunami flow depths up to 2 m. A further 2544 damage samples were collected for transport, energy, water infrastructure network components and coastal protection structures. We observed undamaged infrastructure components in high proportions and observed that complete component damage was often caused by secondary hazards (e.g. debris) or cascading impacts where seawall and stormwater culvert failures damaged co-located roads, pathways and utility poles. Future investigations of the hydrodynamic tsunami characteristics influencing infrastructure component fragility will support the analysis of physical damage to single components and cascading impacts across multiple infrastructure networks.

Estimating tree-related power outages for regional utility network using airborne LiDAR data and spatial statistics

Trees play an integral role in the “green” framework of an urban ecosystem. However, just as they are beneficial to the environment, they can pose a significant risk to utility infrastructure networks, particularly in severe weather events. The objectives of this research were to explore the effect of scale and spatial variation on the relationships between trees and utility assets for vegetation-related power outages through the incorporation of remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) analysis. Tree location and structural metrics derived from airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data were combined with regional utility network GIS data to test the prediction analysis capabilities of global and local statistics at multiple scales. Pearson’s correlation was carried out to examine the relationships between tree structure and utility asset variables to vegetation-related power outages, including the effect of the resolution, or grid-cell size, on those relationships. To test the performance of global and local regression modeling on outage prediction, ordinary least square (OLS) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models were evaluated using four explanatory variables (utility wire length, utility pole count, tree canopy area, maximum tree height) at four different grid cell scales (50 m, 500 m, 1 km, 2 km). In general, Pearson’s correlation demonstrated the strongest positive relationship between explanatory variables and power outages when only aggregating 50-m grid cells exhibiting co-location of trees and utility assets to 2-km grid cells. Local regression models performed better than global models at all scales, with GWR producing the highest adjusted R2 and lowest Akaike information criterion (AIC) values of 0.955 and 3213, respectively. Additionally, the performance of OLS and GWR models increased with scale as both models produced the highest adjusted R2 at 2-km grid-cell scale. GWR model outputs demonstrated unique spatial patterning across the study area. This research demonstrated the effect of scale and spatial variation on regression analysis for the estimation of tree-related power outages.

Practical limitations of lane detection algorithm based on Hough transform in challenging scenarios

The vision-based road lane detection technique plays a key role in driver assistance system. While existing lane recognition algorithms demonstrated over 90% detection rate, the validation test was usually conducted on limited scenarios. Significant gaps still exist when applied in real-life autonomous driving. The goal of this article was to identify these gaps and to suggest research directions that can bridge them. The straight lane detection algorithm based on linear Hough transform (HT) was used in this study as an example to evaluate the possible perception issues under challenging scenarios, including various road types, different weather conditions and shades, changed lighting conditions, and so on. The study found that the HT-based algorithm presented an acceptable detection rate in simple backgrounds, such as driving on a highway or conditions showing distinguishable contrast between lane boundaries and their surroundings. However, it failed to recognize road dividing lines under varied lighting conditions. The failure was attributed to the binarization process failing to extract lane features before detections. In addition, the existing HT-based algorithm would be interfered by lane-like interferences, such as guardrails, railways, bikeways, utility poles, pedestrian sidewalks, buildings and so on. Overall, all these findings support the need for further improvements of current road lane detection algorithms to be robust against interference and illumination variations. Moreover, the widely used algorithm has the potential to raise the lane boundary detection rate if an appropriate search range restriction and illumination classification process is added.

Acute epileptic electricity supply in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State: Its causes and remediation

Epileptic electric power supply had become a common factor in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. This study looks at the immediate causes of the prolong power failure in the area, in order to proffer solutions to them. Field work and questionnaires were used to obtain data for this study. During the field work, the main 33 KVA Isoko-Kwale transmission line was thoroughly inspected to ascertain its current state. In addition, the primary (11 KVA) and secondary (415 V) distribution lines, the transformer and feeder pillars were also inspected. Furthermore, questionnaires were distributed to three categories of people (electricians, civil servants and traders), to ascertain the remote causes of epileptic power supply in the region. Results obtained from the field work revealed that some of the electrical materials used in the 33 kVA transmission line were in bad shape. There were instances of missing cross arms from the utility poles, and the insulators were fixed directly to the poles. It was also observed that some cross arms were freely handing at the side of the utility poles. Considering the primary and secondary distribution lines, most of them were in bad shape. Slanting utility poles and cables overgrown with tree branches were regular occurrences. In terms of the feeder pillars, some of them were not functioning. The operational feeder pillars showed signs of overloading and burnt cables. The analysis of the questionnaires feedback with chi-square and graphical methods, revealed that: the poor state of electrical materials, and the negligence of the people of the region in adhering to the electrical rules were highly responsible for the poor electrical supply in the area. Results obtained from the study had revealed that the best remedies to the persistent power failure in the area is the total overhauling of the distribution lines patterns and the transformers. In addition, the people should adhere to the Nigeria electrical safety practices by switching off unnecessary appliances. This will help to conserve electrical energy, and minimized overloading of the 33 KVA transmission line.