Line hardware strand · Georgia
We buy static wire, shield wire and guy strand
The stranded steel that holds a pole up and the stranded steel that takes the lightning strike. Both arrive in coils and on small reels, both look like scrap, and both are bought on grade, coating class and diameter instead.
- Shield wire
- EHS guy strand
- Coating classes
01Overview
What this page covers
Two products share this page because they share a shape and nothing else. Overhead ground wire, also called shield wire, is strung above the phases on transmission structures to intercept lightning. Guy strand is the tension member that resists a pole or a structure leaning, and it is tensioned at installation to a design figure.
The distinction matters when a lot is reviewed. Shield wire is bought on diameter, stranding and coating weight, because it has to conduct fault current and survive corrosion. Guy strand is bought on grade, because extra-high-strength strand and common strand of the same diameter are different products with different breaking strengths.
02Specification
What the coil and the strand tell us
- Shield wire
- 3/8 in. and 7/16 in. seven-wire strand, galvanized or aluminum-clad
- Guy strand
- 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 and 7/16 in.; 7#8 and 7#7 are common
- Grades
- Common, high-strength and extra-high-strength (EHS)
- Coatings
- Class A, B and C zinc; aluminum-clad and copper-clad on special sites
- Standards
- ASTM A475 for zinc-coated steel wire strand
- Hardware
- Anchor rods, thimbles, preformed grips, guy guards, strain insulators
- Packaging
- 100 lb to 1,000 lb coils; wood reels for long shield wire runs
- Condition
- New surplus, removed from line, storm salvage, kinked or corroded
Count the wires and measure the lay length. A seven-wire strand with a long lay is not the same product as a tight-lay EHS strand, even at the same diameter.
03Strand we buy
Strand we buy
Overhead ground wire
Galvanised seven-wire strand above the phases, often replaced now by optical ground wire. Reviewed on diameter, zinc coating and whether the strand has been struck and fused, since a shield wire that took a strike is not re-usable at tension.
Extra-high-strength guy strand
High-carbon strand tensioned to hold a structure. It cannot be bent sharply without losing strength, so a coil with kinks or a tight bend radius has lost the property that made it worth buying.
Aluminum-clad and copper-clad strand
Silver-colored strand from coastal lines and substation work, used where zinc would not last. Reviewed as its own item, because the cladding is a different metal and the strand is identified by color and by weight rather than by a magnet alone.
Guy assemblies and anchors
Anchor rods with eyes, expansion anchors, log anchors, thimbles and plastic guy guards. Counted rather than weighed, and often the most useful part of a lot because the hardware is bought in multiples and consumed slowly.
04Evaluation
How a strand lot is reviewed
Identification comes from three things: wire count, diameter and lay. Seven-wire strand is standard for both products, so the diameter separates them, and the lay and the coating class separate grades. Where the tag is gone, a short sample with the lay measured against a rule answers most of it.
Condition is judged at the coil ends and along the outside of the wrap. Broken wires, kinks from a bad uncoiling and rust at the anchor end are the usual findings. Guy strand that spent its life entering the ground at an anchor rod is corroded where it matters, and that section usually has to be cut away before the rest is reviewed.
Quantities are awkward because strand is sold by weight and used by length. Give the coil count and the approximate weight of each, and note any coil that has been opened. A tight coil of 3/8 in. strand is a dense load for its size, so a pallet of coils is a heavy trailer.
A guy wire can be at line potential. Contact with a phase, or induction from a nearby circuit, will energise a guy and its anchor, and the hazard is invisible at the anchor because the strand is often covered by a guard. Never cut a tensioned guy to shorten it for transport; the stored tension will release the anchor and the strand at once.
05Seller terms
Before you sell: how it works
Four things a seller should be able to pin down before a truck is booked.
Verification
Footage is checked against the reel tag, the sequential marks on the jacket, the wrap count against the barrel, or a published weight per 1,000 ft — whichever the reel actually supports.
Payment
Payment method and timing are agreed in writing for the specific lot before anything is loaded or moved. No verbal number is treated as an agreement.
Paperwork
A bill of sale for the lot, and for utility material the owning utility’s release reference. Neither is optional and neither is created after the fact.
Freight
Collection is arranged as part of the terms. Say what can lift the reels and whether a 53-foot trailer can reach them, and the pickup is planned around that.
Sending a reel list and photographs costs nothing. A review is not a purchase, and nothing is bought, moved or scheduled until written lot terms are agreed for that material. Request a pickup when the lot is ready.
06Related
Related material
- Transmission conductorBare overhead conductor from 69 kV through 500 kV lines
- OPGW and ADSSOptical ground wire and all-dielectric self-supporting fibre
- Distribution conductorPrimary and secondary overhead distribution conductor
- Decommissioned substationBus, cable, ground grid and steel from retired stations
07Questions
Static and guy wire questions
Is used guy strand worth anything beyond scrap?
Where the grade and coating are identifiable and the coil is free of kinks, yes. Strand is re-used on temporary guying, on construction work and on lower-duty applications, so condition rather than age decides.
How do I tell EHS strand from common grade?
The tag is definitive. Without it, EHS is stiffer, springs back harder when a wire is bent, and is usually marked on the strand or on the coil. A section tested for breaking strength settles it.
Do you buy the anchor rods and guy guards with the strand?
Yes, as part of the lot. Rods, expansion anchors and thimbles are counted separately and reviewed on condition, since bent rods and stripped threads reduce what they are worth.
What about shield wire that has taken a lightning strike?
It is reviewed as recovery material. A strike fuses and anneals strand locally, so the affected section is cut out and the remainder is judged on its own.
Send the strand diameter and the coil weights
Diameter, grade, coating class and coil count are enough to begin. A photograph of the coil end against a rule identifies most strand without a tag.