CHEPSTOW, UK — The conductor route of the pylons spans the River Severn and is the longest overhead line river crossing in the UK.

National Grid UK have announced that a team of eight engineers have completed vital refurbishment work on one of Britain’s tallest anchor pylons on the Welsh side of the River Severn Crossing near Chepstow. The conductor route of the pylons spans the River Severn and is the longest overhead line river crossing in the UK, spanning nearly 2.5 miles across the River Wye and River Severn from anchor pylon to anchor pylon.

The heavy steelwork construction of the pylons is designed to hold the tension of seven overhead line wires - each around 24 tons in weight. Work to replace the glass insulators on the Welsh side of the river crossing was completed successfully, keeping electricity flowing from power stations and renewable energy sources in South Wales.

The refurbishment required the use of a 75m lorry-mounted mobile access platform so engineers could access the insulators safely and a 70-metre crane so the heavy equipment could be lifted into place.

“This project is just part of the routine work we do every day to keep the electricity network safe. There are around 22,000 pylons stretching over more than 7700 kilometres of high-voltage overhead lines in National Grid’s network, so we have engineers working round-the-clock making sure we keep the lights on. The work took five days to complete and was carefully planned for months so the insulators could be replaced quickly and safely without disrupting electricity supplies,” said Gareth Davies, Project Engineer for National Grid’s Overhead Line Team.

Source: National Grid UK