Built Ford Tough? Part 1

**For sure: We hope that everyone involved in this accident is safe, sound and unharmed. No one was in the truck at the time pictured and law enforcement was on the scene. **

Ford F250 caught in a Steel Lattice Transmission Line Structure

We’re not sure Ford had incidents like these in mind with the ‘Built Ford Tough’ slogan. Or did they?

Ford F250 caught in Steel Lattice Transmission Line Tower

This Ford F250 Super Duty somehow found itself caught in a LCRA Transmission Line Structure. OUCH! Just how this happened is beyond our imagination bandwidth, but real life is often stranger than fiction.

Though the windshield and front windows are broken, the cabin is still fully intact. There was no one in the truck at the time it was observed in this state so it’s pretty safe to assume that everyone at least walked away.

Types Of Transmission Line Structures

Lattice type structures with steel angle sections are commonly used to support phase conductors and the shield wires of transmission lines. Structures like this unfortunate one are called Vertical Configuration Transmission Line Structures. A totally unimaginative name but there is some wicked awesome structural engineering going on behind the scenes.

What types of loads and stresses can these structures withstand?

Steel lattice towers are usually securely set on concrete or grillage foundations and loads are calculated in 3 directions - vertically, transversely and longitudinally. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) provides guidelines for the design of Transmission Line Structures to incorporate specified levels of reliability for extreme ice and wind loads. Besides weather related loads, those related to security and safety referred to as Special Loads (again, so unimaginative) are also considered in the design. For example, accounting for Security Loads to provide ample resistance to cascading type failures. Think: A triggering event like a nearby tree or building falling on the transmission line structure because of an environmental occurrence like a tornado. Or maybe even a 2011 Ford F250 Super Duty power drifting into it? Who knew?

When all was said and done - at least for the morning after chapter of the story - the steel lattice tower was replaced with a Wood **Single Pole Vertical Structure. Evidently this was good enough in this situation to safely do the job of the steel lattice tower it was replacing. Remember: the steel tower was still standing.

Wood poles used are usually from 3 different species of trees. Douglas Fir and Southern Yellow Pine with a Rupture Bending Stress or Designated Fiber Strength of approximately 8000 psi and Western Red Cedar with a rupture bending stress of about 6000 psi. The fundamental design maxim for wood poles as for steel poles and towers, is to guarantee that the applied loads and applicable overload capacity factors do not exceed the identified stress limits. In other words - the F250 quite possibly would have met a similar fate had it been a wood pole instead while leaving the pole standing.

Mega crane used to remove the Steel Lattice Tower Structure

The NHTSA hasn’t published an Overall Safety Rating for the 2011 Ford F250 Super Duty on their database and only lists the roll-over star rating as 4 out of 5 stars. The Ford Truck Enthusiasts site quotes some pretty decent star rating values for the F250 but those are all for the 2012 Ford F-250 Lariat 4x2 SD Crew Cab 6.75 ft. box 156 in. We can’t really draw conclusions out of thin air, but at least this line of trucks isn’t battling for last place in the safety game.

This unfortunate truck probably has some serious irreparable issues now and if not it would be quite the sum to repair. Even so, this pales in comparison to the bill the LCRA likely sent out. That new “Douglas Fir” piece was definitely not cheap. That cost ‘a bag’ as the lit younglings say.

Wood Single Pole Structure replacing the Steel Lattice Structure

**Just when we thought that work was done: Built Ford Tough? **Wood is good but steel is better - Part 2…**coming next issue.

JustCleo, ModernChassis Team

#ModernChassis #Ford #F250 #FordF250 #Trucks #TruckLove #CarAccidents #LCRA #PowerLines #EnvironmentalSafety #Environment #Safety #RoadHazzards #SafeDriving #AustinTX #ATX #AustinTexas #FordTrucks #BuiltFordTough

References:

http://waterheatertimer.org/Names-of-parts-on-electric-pole.html

https://woodpoles.org/portals/2/documents/WoodPoleCode_Overview.pdf

https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2011/FORD/F-250/PU%25252FCC/4x2#safety-ratings-rollover

https://www.ford-trucks.com/how-tos/a/ford-f250-crash-test-and-safety-ratings-361898