Posts Tagged ‘Electric power transmission’

The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a new online resource intended to promote knowledge sharing and collaboration among the scientific community on environmental modeling. The Integrated Environmental Modeling Hub (iemHUB) website is designed to “facilitate knowledge sharing, discussion and collaboration on models and tools that support multimedia and multidisciplinary analysis.” The agency uses integrated environmental modeling to simulate environmental processes and interactions between ecological and human-influenced systems and to inform its decision making process.

According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (“AISI”) the use of steel utility poles, a market historically dominated by wood poles, has seen triple digit growth in recent years.  Replacement poles account for in excess of 4 million new utility poles per year, in the United States alone.  In 2001, the AISI reported that the steel tonnage used to produce utility poles increased by 29% over the previous year.  The AISI has developed a transportation and infrastructure program, the goal of which is to increase the use of steel in the construction market – with one of the areas of focus being utility poles.

According to the North American Wood Pole Coalition (“NAMPC”) the U.S. currently has approximately 110 million utility poles in use.  The U.S. transportation system is the largest in the world – comprising some 3.9 million miles of public roads, sufficient to circle the globe more than 157 times. Utility poles are required at all such roadways, including the 5-thousand public-use airports, the 145 major seaports, and all private sector developments. Read the rest of this entry »