The Quality Assurance Department is responsible for establishing and maintaining quality functions that ensure all requirements and specifications are met on all raw materials, semi-finished materials, in-process materials, and finished products. They maintain close contact with all manufacturing department supervisors, foremen, and lead personnel to ensure conformance to all established requirements and specifications. They ensure all operators, setup personnel, and work leaders have the proper gages, prints, specifications, procedures, and other information to perform each job properly. Lastly, we are big on the traceability of raw materials for all products we manufacture. 

Hughes Brothers has ten staff members in the engineering and Quality Control departments, including two professional engineers. Over the years, Hughes Brothers’ engineers have overseen the testing, design, invention, and sales of countless new products introduced into the Hughes Brothers line, including industry firsts like the x-brace, adjustable spacer fitting, mass-produced davit arms, steel trusses, and forged tees. In addition, they have written countless papers for the industry and have been active in many utility associations that write the rules for the electric utility industry. These engineers at left have led these innovations for the past 80 years, and a new generation is preparing for the challenges to come.

Hughes Brothers has tested thousands of products to failure to confirm engineering designs and factory processes and, at times to help utilities determine the remaining strength of existing products. Our load frame can test items in tension up to 100,000 lbs, and we have a test site north of the factory dedicated to full-scale tests of steel and wood structures up to 100-foot tall 345kV structures. Hughes Brothers has pulled down over 100 full-scale structures to analyze failure methods, strength assumptions, and software accuracy. In addition, we have tested over 1,300 different components to failure. See below for testing videos and further information. Call us if you have a testing question or want us to perform a component test.

Hughes Brothers partnered with others in the industry to compare the ability of wood and fiberglass to withstand flame and heat. The results were not surprising. Ignoring the claims of fiberglass being “self-extinguishing,” the fiberglass arm melted and failed after only four minutes of sustained heat. The wood arms tested under the same conditions did indeed catch fire, but held the load for 40 minutes, never failed, and then “self-extinguished.” Wood has a proven service life, not one based on conjecture or accelerated testing assumptions.