Long-term efficacy with low environmental impact

If you liked Penta treated wood poles, you’re going to love UltraPole® NXT and Crossarms with DCOI!

The manufacturing of pentachlorophenol came to an end in December of 2021. Electric utilities are deciding what to use in 2022 and beyond. The next generation utility pole and crossarm are here with innovations that benefit pole treaters, utilities, lineworkers and the environment.

UltraPole NXT with DCOI is the first major innovation in treated wood pole protection with decades of stake performance data. Viance developed UltraPole NXT to bring a more environmentally advanced preservative to infrastucture systems throughout the world.

UltraPoleNXT has its own website at ultrapolenxt.com.

Ultrapole Nxt In Environment

UltraPole NXT Benefits

  1. UltraPole® NXT is an oil-borne preservative that makes poles easy to climb.
  2. The active ingredient in UltraPole NXT, DCOI, is not a Restricted Use Pesticide and is not persistent in soil.
  3. UltraPole NXT has low to no odor.
  4. UltraPole NXT uses less energy, fossil fuels, and water to produce; with lower ecotoxicity than other materials used in poles.
  5. UltraPole NXT has a wider range of disposal options at the end of life.
  6. DCOI, the active ingredient in UltraPole NXT, earned the EPA’s President’s Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 1996 for its use as an alternative to tributyltin (TBTO) compounds in marine antifoulant coatings.
  7. DCOI is also the active ingredient in Ecolife®, the best performing, non-metal based, above-ground residential deck preservative on the market.
  8. DCOI is also used in water treatment, paints and coatings, adhesives, vinyl roof membranes, vinyl flooring, marine upholstery, outdoor furniture and shower curtains for example.
  9. DCOI is stable and leach resistant.
  10. DCOI is effective against wood decay fungi and termites.
  11. Standardized by the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA)
  12. UltraPole NXT is the only oil-borne wood pole and crossarm preservative in the industry with a 50-year warranty.
  13. Perfect for infrastructure wood pole and crossarm applications in all ground contact decay hazard zones
    • Crossarms – both Southern yellow pine and Douglas fir
    • Utility poles – Southern yellow pine, Douglas fir and red pine
    • Barn poles – Southern yellow pine
    • Posts (guardrail and fence) – Southern yellow pine
Viance R&D 100 Award Winner
Viance R&D Silver Award Winner

The 2020 R&D 100 Awards recognized UltraPole NXT, a technology developed by Viance and DuPont Microbial Control with two prestigious honors. UltraPole NXT, an advanced wood utility pole preservative that offers low-impact environmental benefits, was honored as one of the most promising innovations in 2020, and the special, additional distinction, with a Silver R&D 100 Special Category Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. 

The renowned R&D 100 Awards list, now in its 58th year, is the industry’s leading recognition for the global R&D community, spotlighting the top 100 technology advancements of the past year. This year’s competition received submissions from 19 countries or regions, judged by a panel of nearly 50 well-respected industry professionals across the globe.

Product Applications

  • Ultrapole Nxta

    Utility Poles - UltraPole NXT provides long-term efficacy with low environmental impact.

  • Ultrapole Nxt Crossarms

    Crossarms - performs in all decay hazard zones for both Southern yellow pine and Douglas fir.

The Qualities That Matter to You

Ultrapole Nxt Poles With Horses

Lower Environmental Impact

  • The effectiveness of DCOI at lower retentions translates to fewer chemicals overall in the environment.
  • DCOI is non-persistent in the soil and breaks down readily into harmless compounds.
  • Compared to other materials such as steel or concrete, DCOI treated UltraPole NXT poles and crossarms use less energy, fossil fuels and water; while producing less acid rain, eco-toxicity, and greenhouse gases.
  • DCOI is not a restricted use pesticide.
  • At the end of life, instead of disposing in increasingly restrictive and expensive landfills, UltraPole NXT poles and crossarms have a wider range of disposal options.

Ultrapole Nxt In Environment Web

Performance and Standards

  • Twenty-eight years of field data conducted by a leading utility industry research group and university show that the UltraPole NXT with DCOI provide effective protection against wood destroying organisms. Long-term stake tests indicate performance that is superior to the most common oil-borne pole treatment while using much lower amounts of preservative. Dr. G. L. Willingham with the Rohm and Haas Company, presented to the AWPA in 1999, data from a Mississippi State University test which showed that "DCOI (RH287) is approximately seven times more effective than pentachlorophenol after 14 years exposure in the Dorman test plot", and later says that "it is approximately ten times as effective as pentachlorophenol when the treated wood is exposed above ground."
  • DCOI has been standardized as a wood preservative by the AWPA since 1989, and ground contact uses were added in 2017. AWPA currently lists DCOI in the P-39 standard. Standardization continues today, with data packages submitted in 2017 supporting preservative retentions that are one-third of those for pentachlorophenol.
  • Viance developed, and has worked extensively, to add DCOI to the AWPA Book of Standards as well as utility companies' standards. Viance's research with wood species added southern yellow pine, red pine and Douglas fir poles; and southern yellow pine and Douglas fir crossarms to the AWPA Book of Standards.

Ultrapole Nxt Crossarms

The Active Ingredient - DCOI

  • DCOI, the active ingredient in UltraPole NXT and crossarms earned the EPA’s Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 1996 for its use as an alternative to tributyltin (TBTO) compounds in marine anti-fouling coatings.
  • DCOI's formulation is 4,5-Dichloro-2n-Octyl-4-Isothiazolin-3-One.
  • DCOI is used in, and currently sold as:
    • a marine antifoulant
    • an algaecide for cooling towers
    • a wood preservative fungicide/insecticide component in the AWPA standardized EL2 formulation used for Ecolife® treated wood. 
  • DCOI is very effective when used as a fungicide/bactericide for in-can paint formulations.

Pole Hardware

Pole hardware that is suitable for penta and CCA poles are also suitable for UltraPole NXT and crossarms.

50-Year Limited Warranty

DCOI is the only oil-borne wood pole and crossarm preservative for electrical infrastructure with a warranty. Viance confidently warrants UltraPole NXT and crossarms treated with DCOI against structural damage caused by termites and decay for 50 years.

Troy Carpenter, Foreman J.F. Electric, Edwardsville, IL

Working to rebuild an electric distribution line for South Central Power Company

In replacing utility poles with DCOI treated UltraPole NXT utility poles, Troy Carpenter said, “Unlike the other poles, these didn’t smell and they don’t cause me to sneeze.”

Brian Murch, Electric Distribution Supervisor

City of Painesville, OH

"The first things I noticed were the poles were odor-free and dry to the touch."

Scott Schneider, President, A Meredith Schneider Co.

East Point, GA

"We approached finding a replacement preservative for penta as perhaps the most important decision of our generation. After doing our research, UltraPole NXT was the obvious choice."

AWPA Use DescriptionAWPA Use CategoryApplications
Exterior Construction Above Ground
UC3B
Crossarms
Ground contact or freshwater Non-critical components
UC4A
Utility Poles and Crossarms
Low decay
Ground contact or freshwater Critical components or difficult replacement
UC4B
Utility Poles High decay
Ground contact or freshwater Critical structural components
UC4C
Utility Poles Severe decay

Three retentions for DCOI reflect the varying decay hazard situations that are encountered in the field.

Retentions for Southern pine, Red pine and Douglas fir poles

Kg/m3(kilograms per cubic meter)Use CategoryPCF (pounds per cubic foot)
  • Southern pine 1.6
  • Douglas fir 2.4
  • Red pine 2.7
UC4A
  • Southern pine 0.10
  • Douglas fir 0.15
  • Red pine 0.17
  • Southern pine 2.1
  • Douglas fir 2.4
  • Red pine 2.7
UC4B
  • Southern pine 0.13
  • Douglas fir 0.15
  • Red pine 0.17
  • Southern pine 2.4
  • Red pine 3.2
  • Douglas fir 3.2
UC4C
  • Southern pine .15
  • Douglas fir 0.20
  • Red pine 0.20

Retentions for Crossarms

Kg/m3(kilograms per cubic meter)Use CategoryPCF (pounds per cubic foot)
  • Southern pine1 2.1
  • Douglas fir2 2.1
UC3B
  • Southern pine1 0.13
  • Douglas fir2 0.13
  • Southern pine1 2.4
  • Douglas fir2 2.1
UC4A
  • Southern pine1 0.15
  • Douglas fir2 0.13

1 - Includes Southern, Mixed Southern, Radiata, Patula and Caribbean pines

2- Douglas fir is coastal variety