Hello All,
I work for a large highway construction company. Recently, I've moved positions from operator to a Rod man/assistant for our in house surveyor. I've been reading a book on construction layout and have been checking this forum every few days trying to soak in any information I can find and it's been very helpful. As a newbie I have a simple question, less about surveying and more about terminology/plans, when asked to stake out ITS poles and strain poles are they referring to power poles? The surveyor gave me a set of plans and in the ITS details sections it gives stations and offsets for power poles and ITS pull boxes. Also what are strain poles and where would you find them in a set of plans? I realize I know nothing, just trying to learn.
Thanks for any responses
Typical power poles won't withstand much lateral force by themselves. Either the wire they support needs to be pulling on them in equal and opposite directions or there needs to be a bracing guy pole or anchor. Strain poles are simply poles that can carry some unbalanced lateral loading (strain) without additional bracing. This is often achieved with the help of a massive concrete base.
Art Vandelay the Architect
Art Vandelay the Architect from Seinfeld?
BTW survey terms and abbreviations can vary from Surveyor to Surveyor region to region. One may use TC which I use for Top of Curb, but another Surveyor may use it for Top of Concrete, Top of Channel.
Art Vandelay the Architect
Like Norman said a wooden utility pole can only LIFT the wires into the air. The forces must be balanced laterally or they bend or break. Thus the need for guy wires and guy poles when the forces are not balanced.
Strain poles can hold any number of things: Wires, cantilevered signals, cameras, toll readers, signage, etc. They are stout metal posts with engineered foundations designed to withstand the the significant "strain" from cantilevered or unbalanced loads.
Often these strain poles can have equipment vaults (pull box) attached to them as well.
Most of the ones I have laid out have required a stake at the point and a couple of offsets with grade for the contractor to pull back to the point following excavation. Typically not a particularly high precision task, but as with anything there are exceptions.
CB
All I can can suggest is best of luck in determining what the heck the engineer or CAD guy d'jour came up with for an abbreviation. I've had 10's of thousands of plans in my hands, and terminology is one thing that always changes. Call them and ask is all I can say. Then you know. Better to fess up on the front end and ask, than be the fall guy at the other end with the deer in the headlight look.
To me, a strain pole would what we called in MI and also here in AZ as a guy pole. It holds guy wires. The main power pole needs some windage support, so they place a guy pole generally within 50 ft or so. Sometimes they just put guy wires down in the prevailing windward direction, but rights of ways and easements do come into play.
Good luck to ya grasshopper
ITS is Intelligent Transportation System. They are the poles with DOT cameras, law enforcement wifi and such. Ive never heard of strain poles, maybe an anchor pole??
Strain poles are the poles that support span wires from which traffic signals are hung.
Is there a legend on these highway plans? Typically there would be a section of the plans where symbols and abbreviations are spelled out. Don't a$$ u me. When in doubt, check it out! 😉
Realizing you know nothing is a good first step towards learning something.
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.