Why Poles Are So Strong

Did you know that a pole has twice the bending strength of a dimensioned piece of wood the same size?

Shipbuilders used poles as masts for sailing ships. They removed very little wood other than bark to maintain mask bending strength.

As a tree grows, it prestresses its fibers. Wood on the outside of a tree trunk can achieve 2000 psi of tension. The inner wood is actually in compression. The outer tension of the exterior wood is what allows a tree to bend substantially before it actually goes into compression.

So, now we know why pole barns using post frame construction are so strong compared to traditional platform framing.

Modern concrete structures use this same technique to strengthen them against breaking under tension.