Guangdong, China -- Lightweight polyurethane utility poles built with BASF technology withstood a typhoon that destroyed around 80,000 concrete composite poles.
Rammasun, which ripped through Asia in July, brought wind speeds of up to 155mph but the bending ability of Elastolit in BASF’s poles - which the company claims is 2.5 times that of the traditional concrete poles - allowed them to stay standing, BASF said.
Nearly 200 people were killed and records show winds higher than 100mph were sustained for more than 10 minutes at a time.
Andy Postlethwaite, senior vp, performance materials Asia Pacific, BASF, said the poles offer “outstanding wind resistance” yet are “extremely lightweight.”
“They can be carried and set up manually,” he said.
