Engineered by Nature, Enhanced by Technology
Essential infrastructure for North America’s electrical distribution system
Pole resources
Wood Pole
Technical Library
Explore the best online resource for preservative-treated wood utility poles with an exclusive library of publications, technical sheets and digital tools.
Visit the Wood Poles Technical Library
Smartphone app
for wood poles
Have answers on wood poles at your fingertips with the free Wood Pole Guide app for Apple iOS or Google Android.
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Review standard
wood pole sizes
Use the Pole Dimension Calculator to determine the circumference and length for the standard classes of poles, as defined in ANSI national standards
Calculate standard pole sizes by class
Learn more about
wood crossarms
Wood crossarms play a critical role in carrying lines other equipment in overhead systems today. A new Wood Crossarms section provides an in-depth look at these essential wood products. The new section includes an overview of the long history of wood crossarms and new information on the fire performance of wood crossarms.
Go to Wood Crossarms section
What’s new
Research comparing composite, wood pole performance questioned
A new white paper exposes questionable research comparing the structural performance of fiberglass composite poles vs. wood poles. The research paper purported that “composite poles offer a higher level of reliability than wood poles,” however the data fails to prove that point.
WWPI Members brought many of the erroneous and misleading statements to the study author’s attention after the research paper was published in the Canadian Journal of Pure and Applied Science. The author subsequently revised the paper, however many of the biased conclusions remained in the research.
A significant bias was in using Western Red Cedar wood poles, which have lower design values, and comparing them to composite poles with load ratings more than double the wood pole ratings. The research paper was not peer reviewed.
Presentation PDFs available from OSU Pole Conference
Managing Utility Overhead Assets in a Changing Environment v2025, a pole conference presented Nov. 13-14, 2025, by the OSU Utility Pole Research Cooperative, featured more than 12 hours of expert presentations over a day-and-a-half of programming. Links to PDFs of the presenters’ slide decks can be found here.
Review myths, truths about utility pole materials
The drive for “new” and “innovative” when it comes to utility poles often leads to claims of superiority for poles made from alternative materials. A new publication looks at the many myths and truths when it comes to comparing wood poles vs. alternative materials
Pole Principles – Myths and truths: wood vs. alternatives explores many of the claims that poles made from alternative materials are better than wood poles, which have been used for more than a century. The two-page guide details common myths about pole strength, service life, environmental impact, system resiliency and fire resistance.
The guide also includes references supporting the truths behind the myths so utilities can make wise choices to meet overhead system needs.
Guide, web section explore fire protection for wood poles
Today’s wildfires can have devastating impacts for both communities and infrastructure such as utility poles. A new Technical Bulletin and web section details how fire affects all pole materials and the new technologies available to protect wood poles from the ravages of fire to keep power on.
The publication Wildfire Mitigation: Materials science & wood pole protection delves deeply into how wildfires can impact utility poles, whether they are made of wood, composite fiberglass, steel or concrete. Since no material is impervious to fire, the guide offers insights to aid in utility efforts to reduce the vulnerability of their overhead systems. Also detailed are the effectiveness of new pole wrap technologies in protecting wood poles, confirmed by research and real-world experiences.
The new Fire Protection section provides an overview of the topics covered in the publication, as well as videos of fire tests on wood and composite fiberglass crossarms that show significant differences in performance under fire conditions
Sustainable alternatives explored for overhead resiliency
Bigger may not be better — nor sustainable — when it comes to increasing wood pole sizes to improve overhead system resiliency. The new Technical Bulletin Sustainable Wood Pole Design for Overhead Systems explores practical alternatives to specifying larger poles.
Utilities should incorporate sustainable forestry into resiliency efforts and can do so by utilizing more readily available pole classes with spans between closer together.
The 12-page bulletin explores the natural growth of trees and its importance in creating larger poles, which are often more expensive due to limited availability. An alternative to specifying bigger poles is to move poles closer together, which enhances reliability while balancing what pole sizes are available in today’s renewable forests.
Energize community outreach with customized coloring book
Utilities can get an assist in expanding their community affairs activities and communicating important safety information on overhead lines with a special low-cost, customized coloring book.
The 16-page book Electricity from Tree to Me is designed for children from kindergarten through elementary school. It explains how wood utility poles are made from sustainable and renewable trees and includes important safety messages for about overhead lines, including what to do if lines are on the ground.
The book is designed to be customized with utility information on the inside cover page and the back cover. Utility specific coloring books can be ordered for about $1 each for 1,000 copies or more. Quantities of 500 and 750 are also available at a discounted price.