UK electricity pylon series comparison
Contents
Overview
Use this page to help identify UK electricity pylon series. See the series page for the list of known series.
By tower type
The following pages compare series by individual tower type.
- Straight line towers
- 10° angle towers
- 30°, 25° and 20° angle towers
- 60° and 55° angle towers
- 90° angle towers
- Terminal and junction towers
- Gantries
- Transposition towers
- Special
Similar types
PL1a vs PL4 vs PL16
Although the towers differ in height, this is difficult to judge in person. The obvious difference is that the SEE PL1a straight line tower has a square pyramid between the top crossarms, while PL4 and PL16 have a tapered wedges. PL4 and “Scottish” PL16 noticeably differ in the height of the top crossarms, with those of “Scottish” PL16 being distinctly taller.
PL7 vs PL16 DD2
PL7 and PL16 DD2 look very similar. Two differences to look out for are the upwards (PL16) vs downwards (PL7) bracing of the top crossarm, and the braced (PL16) vs open (PL7) second and third crossarms.
L2 vs L3 vs L66
L2 and Blaw-Knox L3 are very similar, differing mostly in size. L66 seems to fall in between the two: similar height to L3 but stouter, as though L3 was a slimline replacement. Note also the significantly shorter crossarms of L3 compared to L66. L3 DS is the same tower as T2175 D, and both appear to be the same tower as T1521 D.
L2 vs L6
L2 was designed for twin 0.4□″ SCA conductors. L6 was designed for quad 0.4□″ SCA. As such, any quad conductor line is almost certainly L6 (the T-Pylons being one exception), and never L2. The modern preference is typically for twin or triple conductor bundles, and triple conductors too are typically L6. There are six different L6 designs, of which just Balfour Beatty’s is shown below for comparison. L2 rarely has extended middle crossarms (only known to be found in Coventry, plus the Scottish T1648 line tower), while L6 always does.
L2 vs L8
L8 is the replacement to L2, a slimmer design with long middle crossarms and greater clearances. L8 should not be mistaken for the L2 variant with extended middle crossarms and with the T1648 line towers from Scotland that were used in conjunction with L2 angle towers.
L6 vs L8
The Blaw Knox L6 line tower can be confused with the corresponding L8 tower, also designed by Blaw Knox. L8 could be considered a smaller version of Blaw Knox L6. Contrast the upwards crossarm bracing on L6 with the downwards bracing on L8:
L4 vs L12
L4(m) differs from L12 not just in terms of size but also in crossarm bracing.
L12 vs SSE400 vs AS4
SSE400 is similar to L12 but considerably larger. AS4 is similar to SSE400 but takes triple conductor bundles instead of twin, has greater height and has a greater flare angle below the bend line (wider at ground level). Line tower comparison:
Comparison of 55° angle towers:
L9 vs L12L
L9 is the low-height counterpart to L6. L9 has triangular-section crossarms with the conductors suspended from V-formation insulators. L12 also has a low-height version in the form of L12L.