IS 800-1984

4.1.1Towers: A tower or mast is a tall skeleton structure with a relatively small crosssection, which has a large ratio b/w height and maximum width. A tower is a freely standing self supporting structure fixed to the base or foundation while a mast is tall structure, pinned to the base or foundation and bracing with guys etc. The height of towers for electric power transmission may vary from 10 to 45m while those for flood lights in stadiums and large flyover intersections may vary from 15 to 50m. Though the height of a tower is fixed by the user, the structural designer has the task of designing (i) general configuration, (ii) individual members, (iii)joint details. The task of designing a stable tall tower economically is a challenging job for a structural engineer. 4.1.2Transmission Line Towers: they are used for supporting the extra high voltage (EHA) electric transmission lines. These lines also carry very heavy currents, to the tune of several hundred amperes. It is therefore necessary that these transmission lines should be carried at a level which is very much higher than the ground level. At the beginning of world war 1,115kV was considered high voltage. This has necessitated the use of tall towers to support the transmission lines conductors carrying a combination a EHV and heavy currents. Following are various types of structures which support the electric power transmission lines: (1) Structures made of timber: (i)wood poles, (ii) wood H-poles. These have now become obsolete. (2) Structures made of concrete: (i)R.C.C, (ii) Prestressed concrete poles. These are still used for supporting relatively low voltage transmission lines. (3) Structure made of structural steel: (i) round or I-section steel poles (ii) Fabricated steel poles (iii) Flexible towers (iv) Semi-flexible towers (v) Self-supporting wide base towers (vi) Guyed towers. (4) Structures made of aluminum: (i) Self-supporting towers (ii)Guyed towers The main bracing systems may be of three types. (i) tension,(ii) tension-compression system,(iii) K-braced system. In the tension system, the diagonal members have l/r ratio high enough to act in tension only; they become dummy when subjected to compression. However, horizontal members are designed for compression. Towers with tension system of bracing result in larger deflections. The tension-compression system is suitable where lateral dimensions of the tower are not too great with respect to the tower loads. K-braced system is suitable only for large towers. The system is not competitive for usual line towers. Normally, a combination of two or more systems of bracing is used to give the desired results. The web patterns are so chosen that tension members are long and 107

IS 800-1984
compression members are short and the inclination of members may be between 40 to 60, optimal angle being around 50. Depending on the voltage rating (66 to 550kV). And the no. of circuits, the height of transmission line tower varies from 20 to 40m and the length of cross-section of crossarm varies from 4 to 18m. the ratio of width B to height H ratio is kept 1/6 for tangent and small angle towers, 1/5 for medium angle towers and for large angle towers. The economical base width B in metres is proportional to the square root of the moment, and is expressed by B=KM, where M= over turning moment in kN-m, K=varies from 0.09 to 0.168, with an good average value of 0.13. the width of tower at the lowest cross-arm level is fixed based on torsional loads under broken-wire-condition and is generally around 1/3rd the base width. 4.1.3Type of Towers: towers may support single, double or multiple circuits, along with supporting the ground wire. Transmission line towers are designed as (i) self-supporting towers, (ii) flexible towers. The self-supporting towers are subjected to two types of loads: (a) wind loads acting transversely, (b) longitudinal horizontal loads occurring when part or all of the conductors snap in one span, forcing the structure to resist the unbalanced cable pulls from the unbroken span. These towers are therefore rigid in both Flexible tower are rigid only in transverse direction (to resist wind loads) and their longitudinal stability is provided by the cables. Due to this reason, self-supporting towers are preferred. However, where it is not possible to provide self-supporting towers are provided, but then it is essential to provide self-supporting towers at some suitable interval to prevent the simultaneous collapse of the whole line. Again based on alignment, towers may be of two types:(i) line or tangent-towers, (ii) angle towers. Towers on straight line portion of the transmission line are known as line towers. Angle towers are provided at angles in the lines and are designed to resist the angular component of the cable pulls. These are placed in such a way that the axis of cross-arms bisects the angle between the deviated transmission line. IS:802-1977 code of practice for use of structural steel in over head transmission line towers, recommends the following four types of towers: (a) Tangent towers : 0 to 2 line deviation (b) Small angle tower :10 line deviation with suspension insulators (c) Medium angle tower: 30 line tower (d) Large angle 60 and dead end tower. The conductors or wires hang b/w the towers, and are in tension. The spacing of tangent towers also known as suspension towers depend upon the terrain. Tangent towers are spaced from 200 to 400 m apart for lines with voltage of 220-300 kV. and from 400 to 600 m for lines with high voltage because of high voltage carried by the conductors, there should be a clear vertical distance of 6 to 10 m b/w the ground level and suspended conductors. Due to this reason, the height of tower ranges from 20 to 40 108

IS 800-1984
m, depending upon the spacing of towers. The wt. of a single suspension, tower for 220500 kV may range b/w 40 to 80 kN. 4.1.4Loads of Transmission line towers: the transmission line towers are subjected to the following loads: (a)vertical (b) longitudinal loads, (iii)Torsional loads. Vertical loads: the\se arise from the following: (i) wt. of tower structure, (j) wt of insulator strings and fittings, (iii) wt of power conductors, (iv) wt of ground wire, (v) wt of ice coatings (if any), (vi) wt of maintenance crew (line man) with tools (1.5 kN) Transverse on horizontal loads(T): (i) wind load on conductors, (ii) on ground wire, (iii) on insulator string, (iv) on tower structure. (v) transverse component of tensions in conductors and earth wire. Longitudinal load P:(i) unbalanced pull due to a broken conductor, (ii) broken ground wire,

109