Arlington, VA, Dec. 12, 2005 — RS Technologies’ RStandard modular composite utility pole was awarded this year’s ACE Award for Most Creative Application by the American Composites Manufacturers Association (ACMA).
The RStandard utility pole is made from the RS Technologies’ proprietary Version polyurethane resin system using a proprietary filament winding technology. The result is a modular utility pole design that allows height and strength to be tailored to each individual application by assembling appropriate pole modules.
Modules are manufactured in a series of standard section lengths and diameters, to allow construction of a wide variety of finished poles. The modular design of the fiber-reinforced composite pole sections allow utilities to maintain smaller inventories. Further, at installation, transportation of the lightweight modules from storage to the site is easier and less expensive, and the modules can be offloaded and assembled using smaller lifting and handling equipment.
The manufacturer notes that the engineered composite pole material has UV protection embedded into it, offers the highest strength-to-weight ratio among currently available pole materials, and contains zero hazardous airborne pollutants (HAPs) and zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Moreover, its nontoxic resin matrix has no detrimental environmental impact and will not leach toxins into the ground, even over its expected 80-year life.
In addition, the engineered composite poles are nonconductive and easily drilled at the factory or in the field to make the addition of steps and other hardware easy. Finally, according to the maker, they offer the lowest life-cycle cost among available poles.
The Awards for Composites Excellence (ACE) are sponsored each year by the ACMA to recognize the most innovative developments in composites. This year’s awards were presented at Composites 2005. Held in 2005 in Columbus, OH, it is the largest trade show and conference in North America dedicated to the composites industry.
