If you haven’t already do take a look at “Pylon of the Month” this wonderful website likes to celebrate all aspects of electric pylons and this post is in honour of it. Today we take a look at the tallest electricity pylons from around the world and discover where they are located…
Ten of the Worlds Tallest Electricity Pylons and Where to Find Them
10 – Elbe Crossing 2, Germany – Pinnacle Height: 227 m
These pylons took 2 years to build and are the tallest electricity pylons in Europe, but only make it to number 10 on this list of the tallest in the world.
9 – HVDC Yangtze River Crossing Wuhu, China – Pinnacle Height: 229 m
Built in 2003 in Wuhu they are the tallest electricity pylons used for HVDC (High-voltage direct current).
8 – Pylons of Messina, Italy – Pinnacle Height: 232 m
Built way back in 1957 they are no longer used as pylons and are used as communication towers instead, but their original use is what I am classing them as.
7 – Orinoco River Crossing, Venezuela – Pinnacle Height: 240 m
The first and tallest pylon was finished in 1971 and features an overhead power line crossing for two 400 kV-circuits. That is also a pretty impressive bridge span to the right of it.
[adinserter block=”7″]
6 – Pylons of Pearl River Crossing, China – Pinnacle Height: 253 m
Spanning the Pearl River the powerlines are suspended from 240 metres (790 ft) tall towers, one which is 253 m and the other 240 m.
5 – Nanjing Yangtze River Crossing, China – Pinnacle Height: 257 m
This is the Tallest reinforced concrete pylons in the world can they carry 6 conductors on two levels. The span width of the tallest to the next closest pylon is 2,053 m (6,736 ft).
4 – Yangtze River power line crossing of Shanghai-Huainan Powerline, China – Pinnacle Height: 269.75 m
This dual circuit, 500 kV AC overhead powerline crosses the Yangtze River at Nanjing and this particular tower is located in Gaogouzhen.
3 – Amazonas Crossing of Tucuruí transmission line, Brazil – Pinnacle Height: 295 m
Located near Almeirim this is the tallest electricity pylons in South America and yes there is more than one of them, 3 in fact at its max height.
[adinserter block=”8″]
2 – Jiangyin Yangtze River Crossing, China – Pinnacle Height: 346.5 m
While this transmission tower is is the only one that spans the river nearby and is, of course, the slightly smaller older brother of the Zhoushan Island pylon.
1 – Zhoushan Island Overhead Powerline Tie, China – Pinnacle Height: 370 m
Built between 2009-2010 on Damao Island they are the tallest pylons on the world and while they resemble those of the Messina Strait, they are in fact steel-tube lattice structures.
