Woodpeckers Take Aim on NIPCO's Wood Poles

It's linemen versus the woodpeckers in the south end of NIPCO's transmission system.

Sometimes the linemen win, sometimes it's the woodpeckers.

The jackhammers of the bird community spend years carving out desirable living quarters in fir transmission poles. Tim Harrison, NIPCO transmission superintendent, said that woodpecker damage occurs mostly in the Onawa and Harlan areas where there is more timbered land. Two or three poles must be replaced each year because of woodpecker damage, which usually is spotted during biennial helicopter line patrol.

Some poles can be repaired with wood plugs treated with a chemical that repels the birds. Then the holes are sealed with a two-part caulk that, when hardened, resists the woodpeckers' persistent attacks.

Harrison said that woodpeckers have hollowed out some poles so severely that only a shell remains. Those poles must be replaced.

The woodpeckers prefer older poles. Harrison said that some of NIPCO's poles date from 1956 and the protective treatments have worn off. Newer poles are treated with Penta, a chemical that repels the birds.

Poles also are susceptible to carpenter ant damage. Harrison said that a colony of carpenter ants can eat out the base of a pole in two to three years. Poles that have been munched by carpenter ants can sound like a drum because they have been hollowed out.

Poles are treated every 10 years with UltraFume fumigant to protect them from insects, ants and fungus, but the products does not repel carpenter ants.

The photo below shows a close-up view of a pole damaged by woodpeckers.