BIOTRANS UK - Products page. Biotrans Field Liners (Internationally patented field liner protection)

A unique plastic sleeve around the butt of a pole that allows the pole to 'breathe' but stops pole preservatives leaching into the soil. Research conducted under the auspices of the European Commission. The product has been developed internationally by multi-disciplinary experts and designed hand-in-hand with end users and has 43 patents around the world.

Areas of use include:

Utility companies (electric and telephone distribution lines);

Agriculture (especially where poles are used to grow export crops - ie vineyards);

General (eg the DIY market - fence poles, pergolas, verandahs).

Click on the links above for more detailed information:

Field Liners protect the environment against pollution, protects the pole from rot caused by fungi in the soil around it, eliminates costly repairs, reduces inspection frequency, prolongs pole life, and creates a 'superpole' which can be re-sold at the end of its service life.

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Biotrans Home Page: After a decade of research and development, Biotrans scientists produced a patented method of pole preservation which is both technologically sound and meets international environmental requirements. The Biotrans Field Liner is a unique product which protects the pole, without doing harm to the environment. The Field Liner is manufactured in such a way that chemicals with an insecticide or fungicide action and confined within the Field Liner to proect the pole and lengthen pole service life without these chemicals leaching to the soil around the pole. The Biotrans Field Liner is patented in several countried around the world and manufactured under licence.

Biotrans Products - the Field Liner: The Biotrans Field Liner can be used by Utility companies for electricity and telephone distribution, in the Agricultural sector, especially where wooden poles are used in the production of export crops. Field liners can also be used on wooden poles used to construct fences, verandahs and pergolas. The preservation of poles by the use of a Biotrans Field Liner results in a saving in the cost of pole replacement and creates a 'superpole' which can be re-sold at the end of its service life.

Field Liners can be fitted manually in a matter of minutes, or by machine. In the USA, engineers designed an automatic heat-shrink machine to fit Biotrans Field Liners to wooden poles for an electrical distribution line. Fitting the Field Liners manually requires no special skills or technical knowledge.

In countries where the use of Creosote is still allowed under environmental regulations, the Biotrans Field Liner prevents any leaching of the preservative into the ground around the wooden pole. In many countries, medical research has found components of preservatives used in wood to be carcinogenic

About Biotrans: Biotrans International's vision and mission statements are based on a firm belief by the company's founders that woodpoles would remain the best alternative to steel, fibreglass or concrete in cost, performance and environmental terms.

Biotrans International environmental biotechnologists and wood preservation microbiologists were driven to find a permanent solution to the problem of so-called 'preserved' poles rotting long before their service lives had elapsed.

With a strong in-house research and development base, and by working with utility companies and research organisations to conduct scientific feasibility tests in Africa, North America, Europe and Australasia, Biotrans perfected the Field Liner solution to woodpole decay.

Costs & Savings using the Biotrans Field Liner: In a case study for a Biotrans customer which was undertaken by UNISA MBA students, the annual costs of pole replacement was significantly reduced on poles fitted with the Biotrans Field Liners. In addition, annual and accumulated savings were considerable using these Biotrans Field Liners.

Biotrans Field Liner Literature: Over the past decade, the founders of Biotrans, AA Baecker and MR Behr have produced research papers which have been presented at various conferences around the world, and published in Industry and Environmental journals in South Africa and overseas.

Biotrans Field Liner - Frequently Asked Questions: Among the questions asked and answered, the most queries are related to the life of poles fitted with the Biotrans Field Liner; the cost of the Field Liner; where immediate cost savings can be effected and questions relating to the technical process of fitting the Biotrans Field Liner either by the Pole Treater in the Pole Yard or by the End User on site. Questions regarding the presence of phthalates (often found in plastics) was answered decisively as all elements in the Biotrans Field Liner are approved as 'Food Grade'.