Field Service & Repair

Welding on Poles, a Specialty

Any task that involves heavy machinery and dangerous materials needs to be handled with precision and care. Add in a potential fire hazard and the job becomes doubly dangerous. Certainly, welding on steel poles is a specialty that takes a great amount of skill.

But what exactly should you be looking for in a technician to accomplish this lofty task, and what kind of training should you be seeking if you wish to become one of these technicians? Here is everything you need to know about welding on poles, a specialty.

What to Know About Pole Welding

Why Would You Need Pole Welding?

In many cases when you have large commercial lighting or utility poles, pole welding will be required to assemble and join large pieces of equipment.

As we’ve described in an earlier article, “8 Welding Challenges in Steel Pole Transmission Structures”: “Constructing a steel pole transmission structure typically requires a series of welded assemblies. These include folding the pole shafts and plates, and joining the edges of the plates with seams. The resulting tubular shafts are then welded to flanges or other brackets to join them together, and insulators are attached to some type of plate welded to the arms or pole shafts.”

Those seams and edges are all places where large assets are highly vulnerable if they aren’t joined properly. Without the right training and skill, poorly welded poles can meet disastrous ends, posing a significant safety risk. The right type of training and skill is paramount to preserve welded assets like these.

What Type of Skill is Required?

It is absolutely vital that your welders have the proper certification and hands-on experience in welding before they tackle a risky project like welding on poles.

This technician should have ample experience with welding in flat, horizontal, overhead, and vertical positions as the requirements can vary depending on the particular welding job.

When it comes to pole or tubular welding, all types of welding may be used, so a technician performing this task needs to be a jack of all trades, fully qualified in the specified joining process. From Shielded Metal Arc Welding, to Flux Cored Arc Welding, to Submerged Arc Welding, to Gas Metal Arc Welding, this technician should have experience in the appropriate technique required to weld on poles.

When it comes to highly-sensitive projects like welding on poles, cutting corners for cost or time efficiency is a recipe for chaos and danger. It’s also vital that the project is done correctly the first time so that field service and repair can be a matter of simple maintenance for quality assurance and lifecycle management of your commercial lighting assets.

Don’t leave the selection of this vital technician up to chance. Trust the experienced professionals at Exo. Exo’s programs such as Ex-Tend lifecycle management help to ensure that your assets are protected from construction to replacement.

A company of integrity, Exo will work to ensure that you are receiving the highest quality services without breaking the bank. Our trusted technicians are happy to help you protect the long-term value of your assets and save you money holistically without sacrificing quality.

Call us today at 281-259-7000 or contact us online for a free consultation to see how Exo can protect your assets.

Get Started with Exo

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Our team would love to talk to you, so we can learn about your lighting company’s goals and primary areas of concern. Contact us today, and we’ll help you take the first step in creating a comprehensive lighting asset management program. Give us a call at 281-259-7000.
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