T-pylons could transform landscape

New design has fewer than 10 major sections for simple construction

Danish design: The T-pylon will be tested in Nottingham first

This is the new T-pylon design that National Grid is soon to be testing at its Eakring training academy in Nottinghamshire. 

Developed in an international competition in 2011 by Danish engineering design practice Bystrup, it has fewer than 10 major sections for simple construction. The pylon structure is made up of a monopole with T-shaped cross arms that hold the wires in a diamond shape. This means it can stand at a height of just 35m, 10m to 15m shorter than traditional lattice towers. 

National Grid will install a test line of six pylons and study the construction, installation and maintenance aspects of the design at its training academy. 

If testing is successful, the design is set to take over from the traditional steel lattice pylons that have been part of the British landscape since the 1920s. 

National Grid aims to use the T-pylons to connect new nuclear power stations and renewable installations. It has offered them for the proposed connection between the planned nuclear station at Hinkley Point near Bridgwater and the rest of the South West.