I went to Exeter today and saw the new pylons that the news were raving about... Apparently less of an eyesore compared to the old ones and I'm not convinced. The older lattice version are at least skeletal and yes you can see them but you kind of see though them but these newer ones are like wind turbines and imo stick out even more. I'm all for change but not convinced these work...maybe paint them to match the background like some of the industrial units going up currently?
These are my thoughts on them as I drive past them on a regular basis. They don't seem to blend into the landscape terribly well, but I expect well get used to them.
I imagine the originals stood out and were an eyesore when they first went up.
Original looks a lot easier to climb for maintenance and service work though.
I'm local to them and they do seem to stand out more on the landscape at the moment with being lower and more full bodied but would say they are not an eyesore. There's a couple of sections where there are other lines in the path so going to be interesting on how they route the cables.
It's a shame that all the infrastructure they are putting in like the access roads are going to be temporary as it would make a great cycle route through the county.
It’s a shame that all the infrastructure they are putting in like the access roads are going to be temporary as it would make a great cycle route through the county.
Yeah we had a temporary bridge built over a river near us for a recent connection project. I used to practice drop-offs off the concrete blocks it was built on. Very disappointed when the whole lot was completely cleared away!
I think things you're used to are always less glaring than things that are new. I like 'em but then I quite like the old ones
onza - access is via service hatch then internal ladders.
When the Hinckley hv scheme is complete it's unlikely they'll be used on other schemes because they're massively more expensive than a transmission tower.
Much smaller footprint, good when placed in the middle of a field where agricultural machinery is used.
Original looks a lot easier to climb for maintenance and service work though.
I guess they don't care about that anymore and use cherry pickers due to H&S. Or a cherry picker hire company shoved some cash at the governing party.
They don’t seem to blend into the landscape terribly well
The old ones don't either they are ugly as hell, you're just used to them.
When you need a repair doing in bad weather, climbing makes a lot more sense than any MEWP.
Yay from me. There was a design competition for them when I worked at National Grid, Danish firm won, although I quite liked some of the others shortlisted, I remember one like a sail (a bit like the Spinnaker in Portsmouth).
Quite a bit smaller than lattice ones as they are single arm. The lattice ones was a design competition too I think.
Mirror wall ones are fun, same company.
I quite like them from the pictures I've seen.
As for repairs in bad weather. I'm not sure what wind speeds tower climbers are limited by but rope access work under IRATA is limited to 25-30mph wind speeds, playing human conkers isn't fun.
I have a feeling any repairs would be delayed until the adverse weather has abated.
Being in a mewp in the wind is crap and I've only been in wee 20m ones.
Certainly on the distribution level still there is a window where you can climb but not use a MEWP. There's more redundancy in a transmission system so probably less call to actually have to battle the elements.
Still, it's amazing how often you see stuff being designed and installed that gives little consideration to maintenance or repair.
Can we stick a few of those vertical turbines on top of each one?
mols - ho ho; they're carrying either 230 or 440kv
I wonder how repairable they are when they reach design life. The lattice Gilbert Scott towers were discrete component and so maintainable.
I like how it took 75 designs to arrive at the winner.
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mols – ho ho; they’re carrying either 230 or 440kv
I’d assumed 275kV or 400kV - no?
New nylons? I say, Miss Brahms!
