Make Ready & Joint Use
Two sides of the same coin: attaching safely and managing risk on shared infrastructure.
Overview
Make ready and joint use are two sides of the same problem.
Attachers need to understand what work is required before building on existing poles. Pole owners need to understand who is attached, whether those attachments are compliant, and where risk exists across their network.
Both depend on accurate field data, consistent evaluation, and workflows that can scale across entire markets.
What is Make Ready Engineering?
Make ready engineering is the process of assessing, designing, and preparing utility poles so new attachments can be installed safely and in compliance with clearance, loading, and construction standards.
It includes evaluating existing attachments, determining what changes are required, and producing engineering plans that specify how poles and wires must be moved, replaced, or reconfigured before construction can proceed.
For broadband providers and OSP engineers, make ready engineering directly informs:
Route viability
Construction cost and scope
Build sequencing and scheduling
Aerial versus underground decisions
Make ready engineering is comprehensive by design, and when applied across large or unfamiliar markets, it is time-consuming and costly to perform at full depth on every pole.
What is Joint Use?
Joint use refers to the shared use of utility poles by multiple entities, typically electric utilities, telecom providers, and cable operators. Managing joint use requires pole owners to understand:
Who is attached to their poles
Where attachments are located
Whether attachments meet clearance and safety standards
Joint use audits help pole owners identify compliance issues, safety risks, and areas that require further investigation or remediation.
Why These Processes Are Challenging
Make ready and joint use both suffer from the same constraints:
- Incomplete or outdated field data
- Inconsistent documentation across owners and attachers
- High labor costs for traditional inspections
- Difficulty scaling assessments across cities or regions
As broadband expansion accelerates, these challenges are amplified. Decisions must be made quickly, often before full engineering is economically feasible.
The Red / Yellow / Green Make Ready Assessment
Vulcan Line Tools’ Red Yellow Green (RYG) assessment is an early-stage make ready assessment designed to support planning and prioritization.
Using up-to-date imagery and accurate measurements, poles and midspans are categorized based on the type of make ready work likely required:
RYG does not perform make ready engineering or produce construction designs. Instead, it enhances the overall process by:
Providing market-wide visibility early
Highlighting areas of likely complexity and cost
Supplying current imagery and measurements that support downstream engineering
This allows full make ready engineering efforts to be focused where they are most needed, improving efficiency and reducing upfront uncertainty.
Red:
Power make ready anticipated
Yellow:
Communications make ready anticipated
Green:
No make ready anticipated
Watch: Streamline Fiber Deployment with
Red Yellow Green Assessments
Joint Use Audits Using Imagery-Based Data
Joint use audits traditionally involve detailed inspections, including tests that may require physical access or specialized equipment. While those methods remain necessary in some cases, many compliance and risk indicators are visible and measurable from imagery.
VLT’s approach focuses on:
Identifying attachers and attachment locations
Measuring visible clearance and spacing issues
Flagging distribution health markers observable from imagery
This enables pole owners to:
Gain system-wide visibility quickly
Properly account and charge for attachments on poles
Prioritize asset targeted asset management with actionable insights
It is a practical, scalable approach for managing joint use risk across
large territories.
How Make Ready & Joint Use Connect to Field Data
Both make ready assessment and make ready engineering rely on accurate, current field data. Measurements, imagery, and spatial context support early classification while also providing inputs for detailed engineering when required.
For more information on the importance of high-quality field data, please visit the following link: Field Data Collection
Choosing the Right Level of Analysis
Not every project requires the same depth of evaluation. Early-stage planning, market entry, and system-wide risk management benefit from fast, scalable assessments. Detailed engineering and compliance work can then be focused where it is most needed.
Explore Related Services
Make Ready Services When you need detailed engineering to prepare poles for safe, compliant attachment.
Joint Use Audit Services When you need to identify attachers, assess compliance, and manage risk across shared infrastructure.
Field Data Collection When you need accurate, scalable field data to support planning, engineering, and construction.
Azmyth on Foot turns your iPhone into a survey tool with RTK accuracy, helping utilities and telecoms collect precise field data faster and more efficiently.