A nine armed rarity towers into place on the Hinkley Connection Project
Standing proud over Somerset, a multi-limbed lattice pylon has been constructed near Bridgwater, ready to supply clean energy. Weighing a colossal 75 tonnes, the nine-armed junction tower will support the flow of energy from different types of overhead conductors, coming from different locations.
Sitting at a cross road between different conductor routes, this junction tower is an important part of the project. It supports overhead electricity conductors coming from T-pylons, as well as those that run from Bridgwater substation. In addition, the lattice pylon supports the overhead conductors which run from Shurton substation at Hinkley Point. Lastly this pylon also supports an optical ground wire installed from Shurton substation, Bridgwater substation and a T-pylon in the area.
Weighing the same as 20 hippos, the nine armed junction tower is a rarity on the project. Built by contractor Morrison Energy Services, it took 20 days to assemble and five days to erect with a crane. Two cranes were required to lift the bottom, middle and top boxes from a horizontal to a vertical position. In comparison, other lattice pylons built on the project typically take around eight days to assemble and two days to erect with a crane.
Danny Wood, Lead Project Manager at National Grid says: ‘The erection of this junction tower is an important milestone in the Hinkley Connection Project. Standing at 50 meters tall, it will help to connect different part of the project together.
One of the overhead conductor routes it supports, recently underwent replacement works, using the Skysafe system. This allowed for the safe replacement of the conductors over the A38 Bristol Road, a mainline network rail track and the M5 Motorway, where the construction of scaffolding was unsuitable.
Being a lot bigger, the foundations for the junction tower were dug to a depth of 22 meters compared to other lattice pylons which have foundations dug to a depth of nine meters. It is also now adorned in 430 litres of yellow primer, along with 675 litres of grey top coat. The paint job took three weeks to complete.
When completed, the new high voltage electricity line will connect six million homes and businesses to new sources of low-carbon, homegrown energy including from the new Hinkley Point C power station.
