Designing Transmission Towers
Determining tower heights and design for the North West Transmission Developments is a complicated and involved task. It requires an understanding of land uses, environmental and geological factors, visual impacts as well as ensuring engineering standards are met.
The design of transmission towers is regulated by the Australian Standard AS7000. Each tower is designed to ensure that minimum electrical safety distances are achieved between each wire, each wire and the ground, and each wire and any objects that may traverse the ground underneath.
The project team has been working to reduce the number of towers required in the existing corridors. To do this, tower heights have been increased to enable a greater span between each one. View map
Upgrades along the following routes will result in a reduction in towers:
- Palmerston to Sheffield (reduction from 261 towers to 190)
- Sheffield to Stowport area (reduction from 118 towers to 85)
- Stowport area to Burnie (reduction from 19 towers to 14)
The average tower height proposed for the North West Transmission Developments is 49 metres. In exceptional circumstances a tower may exceed this height. This may be, for example, to reduce the need to clear vegetation in the easement, helping to preserve the natural environment below the towers.
Investigations and consultation with landowners continues to be undertaken throughout the transmission corridors as the project progresses. Information from this consultation and the investigations is helping to inform the most suitable locations for towers to be placed.
