Method of repairing poles

A method of repairing utility a pole having a section damaged by an accident or decay includes the steps of severing the utility pole above the location of the damage; removing the section of the utility pole including the damaged portion, and replacing the lower section of the utility pole with a steel stanchion having a platform thereon with a split socket disposed above the platform. The upper section of the utility pole is then laterally slid onto the platform through a window provided by opening the split socket upon removing one of two shells forming the split socket. The split socket is then closed by bolting one shell to the other. A space between the outer surface of the upper section of the utility pole and the inner surface of the split socket is then filled with urethane foam. The stanchion is made of a steel which forms a protective iron oxide coating, which coating is brown in color so as to match the brown color of the utility pole. In a preferred embodiment of the stanchion, the stanchion has a tubular lower portion. The split socket is made of two semicircular shells which are bolted both to one another and to the platform upon which the upper section of the utility pole rests.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to methods of and a splice for repairing 
poles. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods of and 
a splice for repairing poles useful in the repair of utility poles, and 
the like, wherein the poles are damaged by decay or accidents. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
When a utility pole is damaged as a result of an accident or due to natural 
causes such as decay, the pole is usually replaced. This tends to be an 
expensive undertaking because of very high labor costs due to highly 
skilled personnel as well as the expense of a new pole. The more 
complicated the pole's attachments, the more expensive it is to replace 
the pole. 
In most cases it has been and still is the practice to replace the entire 
pole, but utilities are at least considering, and from time to time 
actually using, repair structures in lieu of replacing poles. One 
replacement structure is the module pole purchased from a company known as 
the Sherman Company. The Sherman module pole replacement is very costly 
due to its design. Moreover, at this time the Sherman replacement is no 
longer available because the Sherman Company no longer makes the module 
pole. 
The patent literature includes a number of configurations for preparing 
utility poles but to date and to this inventor's knowledge, no utility 
companies have adopted these configurations and methods to any substantial 
extent. The module or pole concept which was available from the Sherman 
Company requires the pole top to be lifted so as to allow a steel sleeve 
to be slipped over the pole top section and then lowered onto a concrete 
butt pole. The steel sleeve is then repositioned in a final position to 
provide bridging of the transition and filling of the void between the 
steel sleeve and the pole top section with concrete grout. This assembly 
must be held for an extended period of time of approximately 45 minutes to 
11/2 hours to allow setting the grout. The approach available from the 
Sherman Company is time consuming and difficult as well as not necessarily 
providing optimal final strength. 
Prior art approaches suggested by the patent literature require the use of 
sleeves which must be slipped over existing pole structure. This requires 
considerable time and skill and thus considerable expense. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved 
method of and splice for repairing damaged utility poles. 
Upon further study of the specification and appended claims, further 
objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to those 
skilled in the art. 
In view of this object and other objects the instant invention is directed 
to a method of repairing in situ a utility pole which has been damaged at 
an area intermediate its length by accident or decay by severing the pole 
above the area of damage to divide the pole into an undamaged upper 
portion and a damaged lower portion and then replacing the damaged lower 
portion with a stanchion having a platform upon which the undamaged upper 
portion rests. A split socket on the stanchion is closed to surround the 
undamaged upper portion after the upper portion of the pole is placed on 
the platform of the stanchion. The method further comprises filling a 
space between the split sleeve and undamaged upper portion with a rapidly 
curing bonding agent which chemically bonds the split socket to the 
undamaged upper portion. 
A splice in accordance with the present invention comprises a stanchion 
having an upper portion and a lower portion wherein the lower portion is 
tubular and the upper portion is a split socket divided into sections, at 
least one of which is removable. Disposed at or proximate the junction of 
the upper and lower sections of the stanchion is a platform which supports 
and upper portion of the utility pole. Access to the platform is provided 
upon removing one section of the split socket. Upon returning the removed 
section and coupling the removed section to the remaining section, a tube 
is formed around the upper portion of the pole, which tube is filled with 
a curable chemical bonding material that fills the space between the pole 
and now closed split socket. 
Preferably, the steel material comprising the stanchion is a weathering 
steel material which forms a brown iron oxide coating that both protects 
the surface of the steel stanchion and blends with the brown color of a 
wooden utility pole.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a utility pole 10 having a crossbar 12 
with a plurality of insulators 14 thereon that retain utility electric 
lines 16 and other accessories such as perhaps a transformer 18. The 
utility pole 10 has a lower portion 20 which is embedded in a hole 22 in 
the ground 24 and an upper portion 26 to which the crossbar 12 is 
attached. 
In the lower portion 20 of the utility pole 10 a damaged area 30 can occur 
due to the pole rotting or due to an accident such as an automobile or 
truck striking the pole 10. It is expensive and time-consuming to replace 
the entire pole which requires reattaching electric lines 16 to the 
insulators 14 and perhaps reinstalling equipment such as transformer 18. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, in practicing the principle of the instant 
invention, the upper portion 26 of the pole 10 is separated from the lower 
portion 20 by cutting the pole 10 with a power saw 32 at a location above 
the damaged area 30 to form a flat bottom surface 34 on the upper portion 
of the pole. The lower portion 20 of the pole is then extracted from the 
hole 22 with a hydraulic lift 36 mounted on a utility truck 38. 
Referring now to FIG. 3, a stanchion 40 (see also FIGS. 6, 7 and 8) is 
inserted into the hole 22 vacated by the lower portion 20 of the telephone 
pole 10. Stanchion 40 has a buried portion 42 below the ground line 44 and 
a projecting portion 46 extending above the ground line 44. The stanchion 
includes a platform 48 above which a split socket 50 is provided. The 
split socket 50 is formed by a pair of semicircular shells 52 and 54 which 
are semicircular in cross-section and, as will be explained with respect 
to FIGS. 6-8, are bolted together to form the split socket. 
After stanchion 40 is inserted into the ground the upper portion 26 of the 
utility pole 10 is slid laterally into alignment with the platform 48 so 
as to rest on the platform 48. This procedure is facilitated by providing 
a "window" by displacing the semicircular shell 54 from the first 
semicircular shell 50. The semicircular shell 50 remains fixed to the 
lower portion 42 so that of the stanchion 40, the lower portion 26 of the 
utility pole 10 may be slid laterally onto the platform 48. Consequently, 
the upper portion 26 of the pole 10 need not be lifted in order to be 
properly aligned with the lower portion 46 of the stanchion 40. Moreover, 
since the split socket 50 can be opened to laterally receive the upper end 
26 of the pole 10, it is not necessary to slide the socket 50 axially with 
respect to the upper portion 26 of the pole or to slide the pole axially 
with respect to the socket. 
As is seen in FIG. 5, after the lower end 26 of the pole 10 has been rested 
on the second platform 48, the semicircular shell 54 is bolted to the 
fixed semicircular shell 50 to provide a tubular socket. 
There is a space 60 between the interior wall 62 of the split socket 50 and 
the exterior surface 64 of the upper portion 26 of the pole 10. The space 
60 is filled with an expanding material. The preferred material is a 
urethane foam which is poured or otherwise dispensed into the space 60. 
The polyurethane foam expands into cracks and crevices of the pole and 
adheres to the inner wall 62 of the socket 50 so as to not leave any 
unfilled voids proximate the surface 64 of the lower portion 26 of pole 
10. Approximately 75 percent of the final strength of the bond formed by 
the polyurethane foam 66 is obtained in 15 minutes or less depending on 
the outside temperature. Within a few hours the bond reaches its full 
strength thus allowing the utility crew to release the upper portion 26 of 
the pole 10 for self support in 15 to 20 minutes. 
Referring now more specifically to FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 where a preferred 
embodiment of the stanchion 40 shown in more detail, it is seen that the 
stanchion is a tube which in cross-section is a 12-sided polygon providing 
the stanchion 40 with a corrugated configuration. At the bottom of the 
lower portion 42 there is a butt plate 70 which is about 17 inches in 
diameter and 3/16 of an inch thick. The lower portion 42 is coated on the 
outside with a layer of epoxy 72 approximately 16 mils thick which extends 
about 2 feet above the ground line 44. 
At the top of the lower portion 42 is the platform 48 which is in the form 
of a circular disk having a diameter greater than the diameter of the 
lower and upper portions 46 and 50 of the stanchion 40. Plate 48 has a rim 
portion 74 having a plurality of nuts 76 arrayed therearound in alignment 
with holes through the disk platform 48. 
The upper portion 50 of the stanchion 40 which is formed as the previously 
discussed split socket having the semicircular shell 52 and semicircular 
shell 54 which have bottom semicircular flanges 80 and 82 respectively. 
The flange 80 at the bottom of semicircular shell 52 is secured with bolts 
84 prior to performing the step of FIG. 4. The flange 80 may be secured at 
the factory or in situ but it is preferable to have the flange 80 bolted 
so that the semicircular shell 52 is in place prior to inserting the 
stanchion 40 into the hole 22. 
The shell 52 has a pair of radially projecting flanges 90 extending from 
opposite sides thereof which each have an array of holes with threaded 
nuts 92 aligned therewith. The semicircular shell 54 also has a pair of 
radially projecting flanges, flanges 96 extending therefrom which are 
abutted with the flanges 90 of semicircular shell 52. Bolts 98 are used to 
bolt the flanges together by threading with the nuts 92. Finally, the 
semicircular base flange 82 is bolted to the circular platform 48 by bolts 
100 which pass through holes in the semicircular platform 82 aligned with 
holes in the circular platform 48 so as to thread with the nuts 76 welded 
to the bottom surface of the platform. As was explained previously, the 
diameter of the split socket 50 is greater than the diameter of the upper 
section 26 of the utility pole 10 (see FIGS. 2-5) which it surrounds. This 
allows a tight fit to be subsequently obtained by filling the space 
between the hole and the inner wall of the socket with urethane foam. 
By way of example, a stanchion 40 used as a pole splice for a class 3 
utility pole at a level of about 18 feet from the bottom of the utility 
pole being replaced has a height from the base 70 of the lower portion 42 
to the top of the plate 48 of about 18 feet. About 51/2 feet of the 
stanchion 40 provides the in ground section 42 of the lower portion 46 
while the coating 72 has a height of about 7 feet. Typically, the split 
socket 50 will have a height of about 5 feet. The lower portion 42 tapers 
slightly from the lower end to the top end while the split sleeve 50 has 
approximately the same diameter at the bottom as at the top. 
Preferably, the stanchion 40 is made of a weathering steel material which 
rusts to form an iron oxide protective coating providing the stanchion 
with essentially the same color as a wood telephone pole. 
In order to ground the structure a series of nuts or grounding pads 104 are 
welded to the stanchion 40 so that a grounding wire may be attached to the 
stanchion if necessary. 
From the foregoing description, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain 
the essential characteristics of this invention, and without departing 
from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and 
modifications of the invention to adapt it to various usages and 
conditions.