3 ms·
It's a neat idea, but I wonder how practical this is from a build/serviceability perspective. They say they are only "minor alterations" from standard designs,
by brk 16y ago
It's a neat idea, but I wonder how practical this is from a build/serviceability perspective. They say they are only "minor alterations" from standard designs, but each one of the towers looks unique (I'd guess they have 6 or 8 total "poses"). But I'd also think there is a lot of value when all the towers have the same design in terms of service and maintenance. These must undergo regular inspections to ensure that no load-bearing components have been compromised.
- gaius 16y agoAll the components, e.g. struts and joints, can be interchangeable, just arranged differently in each one. You would never need to keep complete pylons in stock for each design.
- brk 16y agoSorry, I wasn't commenting about the inventory, I was thinking more along the the lines of creating simple maintenance plans for each arrangement. Keep in mind that the average utility field service worker is often kept most efficient by minimizing the number of variations of any given task.
- crististm 16y agoWell said. The maintenance costs will be large enough over the lifetime of the pylons so that different/complex designs will be a net loss.
- russell 16y agoIf you follow a long transmission line you will see several pylon designs depending on terrain, river crossings, highways, and the like. Pylon design is a well understood engineering problem with lots of software to over-engineer the designs. And yes they will need a reasonable inspection schedule as do all transmission lines.
- jcl 16y agoI also wonder if they will be painted white, as in the illustrations. Most pylons I've seen are unpainted, presumably to minimize maintenance costs.