willshak wrote:
on 10/3/2008 8:49 AM HeyBub said the following:
My home backs up against a 200'-wide high-voltage power line
easement. After Ike, looking across this field, I can see maybe
thirty fences knocked down by the high winds. Every one of these
downed fences was erected using wooden posts.

On my side of the field - for reasons passing understanding - every
one of the fences remained intact and every one of the fences was
erected using metal poles.

In the interests of full disclosure, we did have one break on our
fence; the wind, using the pickets as a sail, fractured one
cross-member, but the poles on either side of the fracture remained
upright. Maybe the construction technique using the wooden posts was
flawed,
I can't say for sure. But the metal post method survived the storm
and the wooden posts didn't.

What type of fencing material was between the metal posts? High winds
are less likely to knock down chain link, wrought iron, or aluminum
fencing than wood picket or board fencing, only because the winds can
pass through the thinner metal fencing easier than the wider wood
fencing..

Good question and I apologize for the omission.

In all the cases, the fences were cedar or PT pickets, 6' tall with
negligible gaps between the pickets.