Across communities throughout the country, a quiet operational problem stands in plain sight. In the utility industry, “double poles” appear when a newly installed pole stands next to the old one it was meant to replace. While regulations from the Public Utility Commission require the removal of old poles within ninety days, thousands remain well beyond that window. The result is visual clutter, potential safety concerns, regulatory scrutiny, and an increasingly visible symptom of fragmented workflow management.
The root issue is not engineering capability but coordination. Electric, telecommunications, fire alarm, and communication companies frequently share infrastructure by renting space on electric utility poles. Each entity operates independently, schedules work separately, and relies on internal systems that do not always communicate with one another. When one company replaces a pole, others must transfer their equipment before the old structure can be removed. Without integrated scheduling and shared visibility, delays compound and backlogs grow.
This student research presentation proposes an engineering management solution rather than a purely technical fix. Instead of focusing on the mechanics of pole replacement, the project designs a structured management workflow that improves communication, joint scheduling, and real time tracking across participating utility partners. The goal is straightforward but ambitious: eliminate double poles within the required ninety day timeframe by addressing systemic coordination failures.
At the center of the proposal is a ten week pilot program that introduces shared batching and scheduling systems. Participating companies would gain access to a centralized tracking portal that allows them to view planned work, update job status, upload documentation, and monitor progress in real time. Workflow diagrams, scheduling models, and performance measurement dashboards would provide visibility into bottlenecks and delay patterns. By aligning stakeholders around shared data, the project seeks to reduce inefficiencies that stem from siloed decision making.
The research also incorporates key performance indicators to evaluate whether the new management structure produces measurable improvement. By analyzing delay times, completion rates, and compliance with regulatory deadlines, the pilot program aims to provide an evidence based comparison between current practices and the proposed workflow model. While limitations such as weather, access to internal policies, and time constraints remain, the structured evaluation method offers a practical roadmap for scaling the initiative if successful.
Beyond the immediate operational benefits, the implications extend into broader engineering management practice. Infrastructure challenges often reveal that the barrier to improvement is not equipment or expertise but coordination. When multiple stakeholders share responsibility without shared systems, inefficiency becomes predictable. By applying disciplined workflow design and collaborative scheduling, utility companies can strengthen regulatory compliance, improve public trust, and deliver more reliable infrastructure.
For engineering managers, regulators, and operations leaders, this presentation reframes an everyday industry problem as a management opportunity. Double poles are not merely remnants of incomplete projects. They represent the visible outcome of fragmented systems. Through structured communication, real time tracking, and performance analytics, organizations can transform a recurring compliance issue into a model for collaborative infrastructure management.
Author and Affiliation
Mitchell Mouradjian, New England Institute of Technology
This research will be presented in person at the SAM International Business Conference as part of the Information Systems and Operations Management track. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore how engineering management principles can address infrastructure coordination challenges and strengthen workflow design across shared utility systems. For more information visit www.samnational.org/conference