Twist measurements were made four times during the first year following erection of the 

 poles and thereafter at least twice a year for the next 4 years (table 9). 



Table 9. - -Average total distortion of poles classified by grain direction 



and amount of grain slope 



Grain direction 



: Jan. : Apr. : July : Aug. : Dec. : Apr. : Oct. : Feb. : Dec. : July : Dec. 

 : 1953 : 1953 : 1953 : 1953 : 1953 : 1954 : 1954 : 1955 : 1955 : 1956 : 1956 



Degrees 



Straight grain 1.97 1.97 3.85 5.31 5.33 4.18 6.55 5.36 6.45 6.72 7.56 



Leftmoderate 3.45 2.75 7.04 10.12 11.48 9.74 13.91 12.44 14.77 15.04 17.47 



Left severe 7.11 5.29 15.04 21.73 23.41 19.49 27.84 23.94 29.55 29.53 33.01 



Right moderate .76 .91 1.47 1.88 2.07 2.15 2.92 2.65 3.35 3.74 4.63 



Right severe 2.17 1.33 3.08 5.11 5.81 5.65 7.88 7.15 8.51 6.68 8.65 



In general, the poles not only showed progressive trends of increasing distortion from 

 January 1953 to December 1956, but also showed some fluctuations, particularly between the 

 fall or midwinter measurements and the spring measurements . The maximum distortion 

 measurements for the individual poles are shown in table 10. 



Table 10. - -Direction of twist and maximum twist of poles in Newport pole test 



Degree of 

 seasoning 



Straight 



Grain classification 



Left spiral 



Right spiral 



Moderate 



Severe 



Moderate 



Severe 



Degrees 



Green 



^L 4.08 



L21.67 



L48.83 



R 8.58 



R17. 17 





2.58 



L16.83 



L38.00 



R 2.50 



R16.58 



1 year 



L11.58 



L14.00 



L31.92 



LIO.OO 



R 5.67 





L 3.17 



L10.67 



L19.00 



R 1.92 



R18.83 



2 years 



L18.17 



L32.83 



L43.00 



L 3.33 



R 4.83 





L 5.83 



L13.42 



L39.00 



L12.50 



R 2.75 



3 years 



L 7.83 



L18.42 



L42.00 



R 1.50 



R 2.83 





L 9.83 



L 5.58 



L 8.83 



L 2.58 



R 6.58 



L signifies twist to left and R twist to right. 

 ^ Poles are listed in the same order as in table 8. 



These data show that the straight -grain poles and those with right-hand spiral grain of 

 either moderate or severe slopes generally had less maximum twist than poles with left-hand 

 spiral, irrespective of seasoning. Also, in most instances, as with the transmission line poles, 

 the distortion was in the same direction as the grain spirality. 



The variations in the maximum twist of the poles were primarily associated with the grain 

 direction. That is, the factor of air seasoning the poles before setting showed no consistent 

 effect on the maximum distortion (table 11). 



10 



