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Pylons of Messina
 
 
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The Pylons of Messina were once used to carry a 220 kilovolt powerline across the Strait of Messina
Strait of Messina

The Strait of Messina is the narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria in the south of Italy....
, between the Rizziconi
Rizziconi

Rizziconi is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italy region Calabria, located about 80 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 45 km northeast of Reggio Calabria....
 substation in Calabria
Calabria

Calabria , is a Regions of Italy in Southern Italy Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea....
 on the Italian mainland and the Sorgente substation in Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
.

The two pylons, built in 1957, are both high freestanding steel towers. Each pylon stands on an tall cross-shaped base and is equipped with a crossbar that carried four conductors at a height of , and another v-shaped structure at the top which carried two additional conductors and also the ground wires.






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The Pylons of Messina were once used to carry a 220 kilovolt powerline across the Strait of Messina
Strait of Messina

The Strait of Messina is the narrow section of water between the eastern tip of Sicily and the southern tip of Calabria in the south of Italy....
, between the Rizziconi
Rizziconi

Rizziconi is a comune in the Province of Reggio Calabria in the Italy region Calabria, located about 80 km southwest of Catanzaro and about 45 km northeast of Reggio Calabria....
 substation in Calabria
Calabria

Calabria , is a Regions of Italy in Southern Italy Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian peninsula. It is bounded to the north by the region of Basilicata, to the south-west by the region of Sicily, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, and to the east by the Ionian Sea....
 on the Italian mainland and the Sorgente substation in Sicily
Sicily

Sicily is an Autonomous regions with special statute of Italy. Of all the regions of Italy, Sicily covers the largest land area at 25,708 km? and currently has just over five million inhabitants....
.

The two pylons, built in 1957, are both high freestanding steel towers. Each pylon stands on an tall cross-shaped base and is equipped with a crossbar that carried four conductors at a height of , and another v-shaped structure at the top which carried two additional conductors and also the ground wires. In contrast to more conventional pylon design, the corners of the pylons are arranged diagonally along the direction of the course of the line. The Pylons of Messina were the model for the Elbe Crossing 1
Elbe crossing 1

Elbe Crossing 1 is a group of masts providing an overhead crossing of 220kV three phase AC current line across the River Elbe. Constructed between 1959 and 1962 as part of the line from Stade to Hamburg north, it consists of 4 masts:...
 in Germany and were, until the completion of Elbe Crossing 2
Elbe crossing 2

Elbe Crossing 2 is a group of pylons providing overhead lines for four 380 volt Three-phase_electric_power AC current circuits across the Germany river Elbe....
, the tallest pylons of the world.

After their completion, the period of the oscillation of the structures and their maximum deflections were determined in a very unusual manner: engineers mounted three rockets with a thrust of 9800 kilonewtons on top of the pylons and ignited them.

To cross Strait of Messina, the overhead power lines had to have a very large span of more than . Because of the span, and the maritime traffic in the strait below, the conductors needed to have sufficient minimum height above ground, and had to be constructed with a great tensile strength
Tensile strength

Tensile strength , or is the Stress at which a material breaks or permanently deforms. Tensile strength is an Intensive and extensive properties and, consequently, does not depend on the size of the test specimen....
. This required the use of steel
Steel

Steel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.14% by weight , depending on grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten....
 cables as conductors even though steel has the disadvantage of poorer electrical conductivity
Conductivity

Conductivity may refer to:*Electrical conductivity, a measure of a material's ability to conduct an electric current*Hydraulic conductivity, a property of a porous material's ability to transmit water...
 than normal aluminium
Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white and ductile member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al; its atomic number is 13....
 overhead power lines. The danger of oscillations caused by wind did not allow the usage of bundled conductors. Thus, the original overhead line across the Strait did not meet modern operational standards and the entire power line was replaced in 1994 by a submarine cable
Submarine power cable

Submarine power cables are cables for electrical power running through the sea, below the surface.A DC system may use the ground and seawater as a return path for current....
.

The now-unused pylons remain with protected status as historical monuments and are used for meteorological
Meteorology

Meteorology is the interdisciplinary scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere that focuses on weather processes and forecasting . Studies in the field stretch back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not occur until the eighteenth century....
 measurements, high altitude rescue training and telecommunications.

See also

  • List of towers
    List of towers

    These are lists of towers that fall under the definition of a tower which is a tall man-made structure, always taller than it is wide. Towers are generally built to take advantage of their height and can stand alone or as part of a larger structure....


External links

  • The pylon on Sicilia
  • The pylon in Calabria