A new way of transmitting electricity: Towering beauty?
Posted by John Malloy on 02/12/2011
A PYLON is supposed to be a beautiful thing. In ancient Egypt, pairs of tapering stone towers called pylons marked the entrances of temples. Christian architects borrowed the idea for the twin towers above the façades of many Gothic cathedrals. Whoever thought of appropriating the word for the ugly metal-lattice structures that carry high-tension power lines over the countryside was therefore guilty of both a public-relations triumph and an act of etymological vandalism. The latter, however, may soon be redeemed. The latest generation of electricity pylons are, in the eyes of some, at least, things of beauty in their own right.
The pylons in question have been designed by engineers at TenneT, the firm that runs the Netherlands’ national electricity grid, in collaboration with KEMA, a Dutch research company. Instead of a single lattice tower, the cables are supported by two elegant steel poles up to 65 metres high. There are no arms. The six cables that pass from one pylon to another are each borne by two insulators attached to the poles. The resulting arrangement, though hardly invisible, is reasonably elegant. As much to the point, though, it has technological advantages. Though no harm has been proven from them, conventional pylon cables, which transmit a three-phase alternating current, generate a strong electric field and a continuous buzz of low-frequency radio waves which some people who live near them fear might be detrimental to their health.
via Technology monitor: Towering beauty? | The Economist.
Posted by
John Malloy on 02/12/2011. Filed under
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