2022 Paris Session

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Study Committee B2
JPS B2 & C3 : Technical and Environmental Aspects of OHL

Design Innovations for Mitigating Construction Challenges of Overhead Lines

Ashish Kr. Singh Chandrakant * Rajeev Kumar S C Taneja A K Singhal

Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd., New Delhi

INDIA
*chandra.kant@powergridindia.com

Indian transmission network has grown by leaps & bounds over the past decade and a large
transmission network comprising of more than 4.2 lakh circuit kms of transmission lines is
already in place. The transmission lines traverse through varied types of terrain, plain as well
as mountainous, encountering several river crossings, railway crossings, power line crossings
and congested areas with severe space constraints. At times, such types of site constraints
appear as major constructional challenge, which, if not addressed properly, may severely
impact the cost as well as completion schedule of the transmission line. Therefore, all such
constraints must be handled diligently and thorough analysis of possible solutions should be
done, prior to final implementation.

For instance, conventionally power line crossings are dealt by using higher extension towers
for overcrossing or truncated towers for undercrossing. Some of the utilities also employ
diamond arrangement of earth wires to minimize the extension requirements. However, in
case both the transmission lines of the power line crossing are under construction stage,
special type of Multi circuit towers could be designed to accommodate both of the
transmission lines traversing in different directions. Similarly, taking advantage of small
crossing spans and smaller sag requirements, special types of dwarf towers can be designed
for under crossing of transmission lines.

In order to address right-of-the way issues and circumvent obstructions, special obtuse angle
towers with auxiliary crossarms can be developed. Such tower modifications necessitate
innovative design considerations.

1
Conventionally, for mid-stream locations of large river crossings, pile foundations are usually
employed. However, in case of hard rock strata, special rock anchor foundations can be
employed and thus, use of pile foundation can be averted.

Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. (POWERGRID) the largest transmission utility of the
country, owns & operates approx. 1,46,000 circuit kms of transmission lines & 232
substations and a large network is under construction. Such phenomenol growth would not
have happened without resorting to design innovations and ingenuous engineering solutions
to address several constructional challenges

The paper describes some of the efforts of POWERGRID to address the various
constructional challenges and highlights necessary design considerations for implementing
innovative solutions through example cases.