Mr. Bhuyan reported on the scope of a CEA Project on ACalibration of Design Procedures for Utility Poles, Irrespective of Material of Construction, Based on Reliability" (see Attachment III) which is being funded by the utilities. The overall objective is to establish design parameters for utility poles, irrespective of material of construction, which would result in nearly uniform reliability for different applications and locations across the country. The group is in the process of trying to set up one set of load factors and establish uniform reliability, and Mr. Bhuyan noted the objectives of this project, with the duration of the project being two years which began last month.

Mr. Bhuyan discussed the steps of the work plan and the tasks associated with each of these steps.

He reported on the deliverables expected from this project which include: a final report with methodology; a design procedure including P-delta effect; appropriate factors in the design procedure, including simplified treatment of P-delta for different grades of construction of wood, steel, concrete, and composite poles; characteristic strength values for wood poles, steel poles, concrete poles, and composite poles, depending upon the availability of information from various manufacturers or from literature; and a methodology for investigating mechanical coordination.

Chairman Wolfe reported on the task group discussion of the pole nominal resistance derivation (from the meeting on April 28, 1999 - see Attachment IV) and that the tip loads in Annex B of ANSI O5.1-1992 will remain unchanged, with Western Red Cedar being the calibration species. He noted that Committee O5 will not get involved in the Grade B or C construction, but will focus on the material resistance side of the LRFD design format. He noted that Mr. Nelson Bingel volunteered to lead the task group in "crunching" the numbers. It was discussed to try to have the initial document ready by August 1999 to send to the Committee for review, and then send the document out for letter ballot in January 2000. It was noted that the five-year review period for ANSI O5.1-1992 had been extended until January 2000. Mr. Barclay noted that the revision of ANSI O5.1-1992 should not be put on hold until this information is ready, since Committee O5 must either reaffirm/revise/withdraw ANSI O5.1-1992 by January 2000. He noted that if Committee O5 approves the letter ballot for the soft metrication of ANSI O5.1-1992 prior to January 2000, then the O5 Secretariat would not have to request another extension (requesting an additional extension would mean that the O5 Secretariat would have to submit detailed information to ANSI on the work plan to finish the revision). Mr. Barclay further noted that any other revisions or modifications could be done after ANSI O5.1-1992 is officially revised.

There was discussion on the exclusion limits and load factors and that Committee O5 may need to make recommendations to NESC. Mr. Kluge noted that NESC is expecting Committee O5 to evaluate this and that it is imperative that all modifications are published in a single document.

Mr. Scott Kirk reported on the Classification Subcommittee, noting that no meeting was held, but noted that he has been working on the metrication of ANSI O5.1-1992. He asked that the members pay particular attention to the sections of the draft proposed standard which denote the horizontal loads and fiber stress conversions to ensure they have been done correctly. He noted that (mm) is the preferred metric unit as opposed to (cm) and that the document contains both (mm) and (cm) measurements, and the Committee unanimously decided to use (cm) throughout the standard, replacing any references to (mm). Mr. Kirk also reported that he recalculated the groundline using 2m instead of the actual 1.8m, and the Committee noted the preference to use the 1.8m measurement, which is more accurate.

Mr. Bob Kluge reported on the Fiber Stress Subcommittee. Mr. Bodig presented some draft fiber stress numbers that apply to the different species and circumferences, maintaining the tip load at two feet from the tip. It was noted that decreasing the circumference of the poles does not seem to be the way to go and that Southern Pine and Douglas Fir would need to be placed in two different tables. It was also noted that Alaskan Yellow Cedar should be determined whether or not it should be included in ANSI O5.1.

Chairman Wolfe announced that the goal is to send out the document for comment in August 1999 and to send out the document (scenarios) for letter ballot by January 2000. He noted that this would enable any comments to be submitted prior to the 2000 Committee O5 meeting and comments could be addressed at that meeting. He noted that there are four scenarios which will be made: 1) use current slope data, 2) use new size effect data, 3) combine species information, and 4) separate species information.

The need to have a face-to-face interim meeting to discuss this information and understand the data was noted and a proposed meeting could be held from September 30 - October 1, 1999. It was proposed to meet in Denver, Colorado, near the airport and Chairman Wolfe and Mr. Barclay will send out information on the proposed meeting dates and will confirm that other meetings are not being held during those days.

Mr. Scott Shields reported on the Crossarms Subcommittee and that ANSI O5.3 will need to be modified to correspond with what is transpiring in the Fiber Stress Subcommittee, and he noted the need to publish a standard deviation for the current information.

Mr. Steve Smith reported on the Glulam Subcommittee and the need to modify the wording in ANSI O5.2, and he will draft the wording to be sent out for letter ballot.

Mr. Colin McCown reported that the 1998 Material Requirements meeting notes were approved as written. He noted the discussion on the photographic manual on wood pole characteristics and that this work is continuing, noting the need for additional photos. He stated that a chart will be attached to these minutes (see Attachment VI) to identify which pictures are needed and that the web site location with the current pictures will be contained in the meeting notes (see Attachment VII). He reported on the Shake Task Force and that there will be clarification on the effects of shake by the next meeting. He reported on the Shelling Task Force and that they are awaiting AWPA action on shelling in order to have definitions to place into ANSI O5.1.

Mr. McCown noted that there was no interest in structural composites but noted the discussion on the use of chain saws to determine depth of knots and drainage of such knots, but there was no action to be taken. He noted the discussion on kiln marks and Mr. E.D. Williams is getting questions on these marks and what type of marks they are, and a task force was created, headed by Mr. Williams.

Mr. McCown noted the discussion on shrinkage and that the circumference shrinks in certain areas and it was determined that no action is necessary at this time.

Mr. Chuck Stoddard reported on the Deep Incising Task Force. Mr. Jeff Morell and Mr. Stoddard will look into strength effects of deep incising and they found twelve reference materials and only three had any reference to strength, and only two of which had actual data in it. One report was from the 1960s and was done by Portland General Electric, but they were not mounted and they broke in accordance with the ASTM requirements. The other report was by Bonneville Power on full length and they broke in accordance with ASTM procedures, obtaining 11.25 percent from that report.

Mr. Wolfe reported on O5/LB97-01, noting that wording in the document was changed to "95% confidence." He noted that in accordance with ASTM D-2915, the wording should be modified, and he proposed changing the wording in the last sentence of Item 7 to read, "Sample sizes shall be sufficient to support a standard error no greater than 10% on the estimate of the lower 5% tolerance value in accordance with ASTM 2915 section 3.4.3.2." There was a motion to change the wording, which was seconded and approved, and Chairman Wolfe will work with Mr. Lonning on modifying this last sentence. He noted that 20-30 poles would need to be tested for a full-scale evaluation, which was unanimously approved.

Mr. Barclay noted that the letter ballot on the revision of ANSI O5.1-1992 will include the soft metrication, approved changes from the 1998 O5 Annual meeting, and the requirements for consideration of foreign species, and he noted that he would work with Mr. Scott Kirk on finalizing the metrication of ANSI O5.1. The Committee approved of continuing as proposed by Mr. Barclay.

Mr. Barclay reiterated that all of the funding had not yet been received for O5 and he agreed to work with Mr. Jim Comerford and other new interested parties to obtain the remaining amount for funding for 1999.

None.

Mr. Barclay reported that ANSI has a new patent policy and sought approval of this policy from the Committee. The Committee unanimously approved the new patent policy after a brief discussion.