Setting utility poles accounts for about 50% of a lineworker’s job. Getting it right depends on solid training, safe practices and local knowledge about soil and terrain, according to instructors at Southeastern Line Constructors Apprenticeship and Training (SELCAT), serving Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

Soil spotting

Each soil variety presents unique challenges and calls for different approaches, said Lloyd Roberts, an instructor for SELCAT at its facility in Moore Haven, Fla.

Florida’s soils—bedrock, sandy, marshy and combinations of all three—are among the most challenging, Roberts said. 

The hard clays and rocky soils of Georgia also present challenges, while rich farm loams containing organic matter are easiest to work with.

“In the big picture, it’s almost impossible to cover all the different soil types with training,” Roberts said. “When we work in different areas, soil conditions change. Knowing how to handle soil is local knowledge. People know specific methods and have machinery that can do the job. That knowledge is shared on the job, and we work together.”

For storm restoration efforts, utility companies sometimes provide online tutorials for responders from other regions.

Soil makes up a significant part of each job briefing. 

“What will happen at the job site depends on the nature of the soil, [its] depth, different sources of backfill, different compressions on the backfill and different types of poles and pole diameters,” Roberts said. 

Newer poles come in thicker widths or may be made of more durable man-made materials. Some are concrete reinforced with rebar, and others are made of flexible fiberglass.

For swampy areas, poles can require a wider footing with cross arms at the bottom. 

“Otherwise, with some 40-foot poles, you come back the next day and there’s just three feet sticking out of the water,” said Luke Tyler, assistant director of training and curriculum at SELCAT’s main office in Newnan, Ga. 

In sandy and marshy areas, line crews employ Marsh Masters equipped with tracks and Swamp Buggies with huge tires to spread weight more evenly. 

“Otherwise, you run a high risk of breaking through the ground and getting stuck, maybe even breaking an axle,” Tyler said. 

Most track equipment is hauled on Lowboy truck trailers and dropped off close to job sites. 

“For sandy soil, you don’t just dig a hole, or you end up with a big pit that gets wider and wider but never very deep,” Roberts said. 

Instead, 2-inch pipes carry water to where poles will be placed. Large pumps push water and sand out beneath the base of a pole, causing it to sink. 

“I’d been a lineman for more than 20 years and never seen that,” Roberts said. “But I showed up with an understanding on safety. After that, the shared local knowledge of how to do this took over.”

Line crews also can pour water onto dry sandy soil before digging to make the soil stick together and avoid creating a shallow pit, said Scott Galladay, an instructor at SELCAT’s Newnan campus. 

“Bedrock is the absolute worst soil type,” Tyler said. “For that, you need a jackhammer and a pilot bit.”

Typical workflow

Whether installing new poles in new distribution areas or replacing old ones in established settings, lineworkers and equipment operators must be able to decipher a pole’s ID stamp, or birthmark. It contains essential information, including instructions for canting—which involves slanting or turning the pole in the right direction. 

For changing out or installing large numbers of poles, crews complete all pole setting work first. The idea is to limit time on special equipment needed for other installations, Tyler said. Next, they complete electrical work. For fixing a single broken pole, lineworkers complete all the steps in one day.

“Pole setting is a very complicated subject,” Roberts said. “All pole setting takes solid training and an awareness of safety, no matter the soil type or circumstance.”

Places around the pole pile are where accidents can happen, Roberts said. 

“Loading must be spotted, but that’s easily overlooked and not as dangerous as other stages of work,” he said.

For first-year apprentices, the second lesson contains three sections related to pole setting, Tyler said. 

“That’s on purpose, because apprentices need to know how to do the basics early on. Beyond that, it’s constant on-the-job training,” he said.

Those basics include loading, transporting poles to job sites, unloading, load spotting, digging holes, setting poles and backfilling. Training also covers digger derrick operation, how to level outriggers and understanding load charts.