THOR Poletest Partners with Ausgrid to Modernise Wooden Pole Inspection

THOR Poletest Ltd., innovators of non-destructive wooden pole testing technology using Stress Wave Propagation (SWP), has partnered with Ausgrid, one of Australia’s largest power utilities.

The contract covers the deployment of THOR Poletest® technology to inspect the health of wooden utility poles across Ausgrid’s network, which spans a major part of New South Wales. Ausgrid owns a substantial wooden pole network and is expected to continue its strong asset management practices with THOR.

By using THOR Poletest® technology, Ausgrid will be able to perform faster and more objective pole condition assessments, significantly improving both the speed and reliability of inspections compared to traditional methods. The system enables asset managers and engineers to test a timber pole in under a minute, without causing any damage to the pole. This highlights the impact of Thor technology and marks a significant milestone in THOR’s expansion into the Australian market.

“Ausgrid’s trial gave us the confidence to introduce the THOR Poletest as part of our asset management system. It is fast and accurate, removing the need for traditional invasive inspections on many of our poles.” - Ausgrid Senior Engineer.

Ausgrid worked with THOR Poletest for nearly two years, rigorously testing and validating the system’s field performance and data accuracy. The THOR field kit, comprising a specially engineered hammer and geophone requires just four strikes per pole to generate stress waves for evaluation. These are captured by a mobile app and instantly available for further analysis. The entire process takes less than one minute per pole, enabling technicians to test 60–70 poles per day.

Paul Reid, CEO of THOR Poletest, added:

“Our partnership with Ausgrid is a signal of where THOR Poletest® is headed. As utilities worldwide look for smarter, faster, and more objective ways to manage ageing infrastructure, our technology is positioned to become a standard in asset intelligence. We see enormous potential to replicate this success across utilities, telcos, and infrastructure providers worldwide.”

Unlike traditional residual strength methods, THOR Poletest® goes beyond by incorporating fibre strength and other critical structural indicators, providing greater repeatability in long-term asset management. The Pole Health Index (PHI™) is THOR’s core indicator of pole condition, assigned to each wooden pole to provide a consistent benchmark for tracking changes over time.

Thor PoleTest Ltd., a New Zealand–based company, continues to invest significantly in R&D to further enhance its non-destructive testing platform as part of its ongoing expansion strategy. Thor is currently pursuing growth opportunities globally, aiming to bring its proven pole health solution to utilities and telcos worldwide.