Christoph Friedli
CEO Impregna GmbH
“We are pleased to be working with MycoSolutions on a biological solution to the wooden pole problems. Our customers have great interest in extending the service life of their wooden poles and thus saving costs.”
Since 1946, Impregna GmbH has been carrying out valuable and demanding maintenance work for mast operators, such as electricity companies, public utilities, Swisscom, and others.
Periodic reimpregnation of the mast base is necessary for an optimal service life of the wooden poles. This preventive protective measure is necessary because the protective agents of the basic impregnation are leached out over the years. Due to the ecotoxicological restrictions in 2016, the reimpregnation had to be completely stopped, although the demand is still there to the full extent. Replacing a rotten wooden pole is costly: Informing customers, cutting off power, checking stability, then digging out poles with machines or even partly by hand and placing the new pole and putting it back into operation.
In a joint Innosuisse project, EMPA in St. Gallen is researching a biological injection paste that is to be introduced into wooden poles with early fungal infestation and stop the growth of pest fungi. For this purpose, sections of poles from all over Switzerland are examined for their internal rot pathogens. In subsequent tests, Trichoderma will be tested against all these internal rot pathogens in the laboratory and in field tests from the end of 2021. The proven inoculation device will be revised and adapted to the new needs. The first scientific results on the effectiveness of the injection paste are expected from 2023/24.
