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.
- D, D2, S and S2 towers
- D10 and S10 towers
- D30, S30 and D25 towers
- D60, S60 and D55 towers
- D90 and S90 towers
- Terminal and junction towers
- Gantries
- Transposition towers
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 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.
L2 vs L6
It has been said that there is presently no evidence that the larger 400 kV-only crossarm variety of L2 was ever constructed. If it ever was, the diagrams below will help differentiate it from L6.
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
In addition to L8’s considerably slimmer form, contrast the upwards crossarm bracing on L6 with the downwards bracing on L8:
L4 vs L12 vs SSE400
L4(m) differs from L12 not just in terms of size but also in crossarm bracing. SSE400 is similar to L12 but considerably larger.
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.