Pylons/electric towers

Started by TheGrassGuy, March 06, 2020, 08:12:42 AM

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TheGrassGuy

The weirdest ones I've seen are on the I-495 bridge in Wilmington Delaware, and the US 202 bridge between NJ and PA.
If you ever feel useless, remember that CR 504 exists.


Henry

Go Cubs Go! Go Cubs Go! Hey Chicago, what do you say? The Cubs are gonna win today!

jeffandnicole

These at the Hoover Dam.  Per the tour I was on, this is one of only two places in the US where they're intentionally built on an angle.  https://goo.gl/maps/ZFSEMVd5MQG3XtX67

Mr_Northside

I'd probably go with the term "unique" over "weird" - But I don't think I've ever seen a design quite like some Duquesne Light transmission lines scattered about their territory.

https://goo.gl/maps/GSScn9JcNDmdYHwM7

I don't have opinions anymore. All I know is that no one is better than anyone else, and everyone is the best at everything

D-Dey65

#4
Quote from: Henry on March 06, 2020, 09:05:22 AM
I nominate these unusual-looking towers on the Chicago Skyway:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.7265325,-87.5533252,3a,75y,338.69h,96.89t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sG8tsLUDruyAFToTqb6Md9Q!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
The only thing making those unique is the extra set of wires hanging from one of the "brackets" (I don't think that's the name for what they're hanging from, but you should get the idea.).

LILCO installed some of those along the north side of the Long Island Expressway back in the 1970's, and some other power company in the Tampa Bay Metro Area installed a few of those in Hernando County a few years ago or so.

This is the one in Medford, New York that LILCO installed:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.8280007,-72.9943041,3a,75y,269.48h,94.26t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7uOgxe-6xLvWKkv71EDAwA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

And these are the ones in Spring Hill, Florida:
https://www.google.com/maps/@28.5276974,-82.4918051,3a,75y,275.86h,84.91t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIMm5AF4iEorJjEqldKWYLA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en


catch22

#5
These are somewhat unusual.  When newer, they were a much more vivid blue and yellow but are now somewhat faded.  I've never seen any quite like these, which run near the Ohio Turnpike south of Cleveland.

https://goo.gl/maps/gMVfFfySWu9Hdw4EA

mrcmc888

When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

stevashe

The weirdest I can remember off the top of my head would probably be these next to the I-5 Ship Canal Bridge in Seattle: https://goo.gl/maps/edzAghoaiTe5G8Jy9

They're not that weird though.

Quote from: mrcmc888 on March 06, 2020, 12:34:37 PM
When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

I think I've seen something like that a few times, usually when the lines are crossing water.

TheGrassGuy

Actually, I have one that's even weirder: the ones you see going over the railroad on the GSP, north of exit 105.
If you ever feel useless, remember that CR 504 exists.

StogieGuy7

Technically, they're called "pylons" by the electricity transmission industry.  Old times colloquially referred to them as "iron men".  The newer ones tend to have solid trunks and arms, while the older ones look more like an erector set.

D-Dey65

#10
Quote from: StogieGuy7 on March 06, 2020, 12:55:50 PM
Technically, they're called "pylons" by the electricity transmission industry.  Old times colloquially referred to them as "iron men".  The newer ones tend to have solid trunks and arms, while the older ones look more like an erector set.
Have you ever seen "Ed Wood?" There's a scene where Johnny Depp is driving Martin Landau to his ordinary suburban house, and the big pylons in the background looked way too new for the 1940's and 1950's.


There's another variety that I like to call "Indian Man" Power Lines, because they remind me of what we were all taught about Native American cave drawings back when we were kids in school.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FL_SR_50_Power_Lines-Sunshine_Grove.jpg

https://www.google.com/maps/@28.5337794,-82.4993665,3a,75y,19.9h,104.25t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1svLvLL_bHLK9fRunmohMbrA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en


This name is only for the one up front. Those on the left, don't qualify.

I also used to think that LILCO/LIPA should have some of these for their larger right-of-ways, until I saw news footage of them mangled in the Ice Storm of 1998 in Upstate New York and Quebec.


TheGrassGuy

Quote from: StogieGuy7 on March 06, 2020, 12:55:50 PM
Technically, they're called "pylons" by the electricity transmission industry.  Old times colloquially referred to them as "iron men".  The newer ones tend to have solid trunks and arms, while the older ones look more like an erector set.
There's a subclass of even older ones, that are just made of wood
If you ever feel useless, remember that CR 504 exists.

TheGrassGuy

#12
Changing the thread title to make it more general about electric towers; the whole topic merits a thread in itself. Also does this even belong in "off-topic"? I know it's not about highways, but is there another thread about this thing?
If you ever feel useless, remember that CR 504 exists.

lepidopteran

Along I-4, presumably on Disney property, is a power line structure in the shape of Mickey Mouse!  Honest.

Florida is one of the few places where (some older) double-circuit structures have the two circuits one atop the other, rather than side-by-side.  There are also a lot made of concrete, apparently because of the rainfall in the area, and perhaps resilience against hurricanes.  Older poles have a square cross-section; the newer ones appear to be round.

-- US 175 --

Quote from: mrcmc888 on March 06, 2020, 12:34:37 PM
When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

-- US 175 --

Quote from: mrcmc888 on March 06, 2020, 12:34:37 PM
When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

I've seen those before.  They are warnings to aircraft if they are near/adjacent to an airfield or helipad.  IDK if they are used in newer installations these days as much as in the past.

ErmineNotyours

Quote from: mrcmc888 on March 06, 2020, 12:34:37 PM
When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

Here are some balls along a line north of the small Auburn Airport: Google Street View.

ErmineNotyours

Here's an aircraft warning ball with appearantly a built-in warning light.  I wasn't there at night, so I don't know.  I also don't know if the light is powered by induction from the line, though that would make more sense than having somebody go and change a battery.  This is on the John Wayne Trail at Iron Horse State Park, southeast of Ellensburg, Washington near the Boylston Tunnel.  The tunnel is closed to trail users, so we have to walk on top of the flat rock that the railroad used to tunnel under, and thus come eye to eye with the beacon over the trail.


ErmineNotyours

Another unusual tower: dropping lines down to a substation.  It seems top heavy, but that's how it needs to work.

And on Terminator II, I saw this array, and worried that the helicopter might crash into it.  The industrial lot that they crash the fence to get into is actually a power plant that supplies these lines.

jeffandnicole

Quote from: TheGrassGuy on March 06, 2020, 02:56:20 PM
Changing the thread title to make it more general about electric towers; the whole topic merits a thread in itself. Also does this even belong in "off-topic"? I know it's not about highways, but is there another thread about this thing?

Off-topic is the catchall. It's absolutely appropriate for this subject.

Stephane Dumas

Quote from: -- US 175 -- on March 06, 2020, 06:06:05 PM
Quote from: mrcmc888 on March 06, 2020, 12:34:37 PM
When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

I've seen those before.  They are warnings to aircraft if they are near/adjacent to an airfield or helipad.  IDK if they are used in newer installations these days as much as in the past.


Hydro-Quebec also used red and white pylons when some important power lines cross a river like these 2 735 kv lines near Levis. https://goo.gl/maps/64QQdg5GBm4FmtXZ9

roadman65

Quote from: lepidopteran on March 06, 2020, 05:35:00 PM
Along I-4, presumably on Disney property, is a power line structure in the shape of Mickey Mouse!  Honest.

Florida is one of the few places where (some older) double-circuit structures have the two circuits one atop the other, rather than side-by-side.  There are also a lot made of concrete, apparently because of the rainfall in the area, and perhaps resilience against hurricanes.  Older poles have a square cross-section; the newer ones appear to be round.

That has been there for ages.  It was there long before Celebration was built and was an icon.  Also the concrete poles are used on many span wire traffic lights and were the norm until the 1990's when each of the counties decided to go mast arms or use fat metal poles. 
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

TheGrassGuy

Quote from: Stephane Dumas on March 07, 2020, 09:43:06 AM
Quote from: -- US 175 -- on March 06, 2020, 06:06:05 PM
Quote from: mrcmc888 on March 06, 2020, 12:34:37 PM
When I was a boy, I could remember seeing electric towers along TN-62 in Oak Ridge that hung orange and white colored round things that looked like fishing bobbers from their wires.  I don't believe they are there anymore.

I've seen those before.  They are warnings to aircraft if they are near/adjacent to an airfield or helipad.  IDK if they are used in newer installations these days as much as in the past.


Hydro-Quebec also used red and white pylons when some important power lines cross a river like these 2 735 kv lines near Levis. https://goo.gl/maps/64QQdg5GBm4FmtXZ9
Those don't look too unusual... at least for someone who's been to China many times and seen red and white pylons EVERYWHERE.
If you ever feel useless, remember that CR 504 exists.

roadman65

#23
There used to be one in Hardyson, NJ where a set of power lines climb the hill next to the Route 23 and 517 intersection that was turned 45 degrees for some reason.  It was the first tower from the substation and it struck me odd it was turned.

Edit: Its still there https://goo.gl/maps/trz37NwySqFSee2w9
Every day is a winding road, you just got to get used to it.

Sheryl Crowe

TheGrassGuy

Quote from: roadman65 on March 07, 2020, 10:20:45 AM
There used to be one in Hardyson, NJ where a set of power lines climb the hill next to the Route 23 and 517 intersection that was turned 45 degrees for some reason.  It was the first tower from the substation and it struck me odd it was turned.

Edit: Its still there https://goo.gl/maps/trz37NwySqFSee2w9
Imo the "turning" aspect of these pylons isn't as weird to me as the bizarre shape of the ones in front.
If you ever feel useless, remember that CR 504 exists.



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