Competition for new UK OHLE gantry design

[IKBrunel]

http://www.theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/new-ideas-sought-for-hs2-gantries

HS2 Ltd is one of the sponsors of an architectural design competition that is inviting architects, engineers and designers from around the world to submit new aesthetically-pleasing designs for the gantry and cantilever structures on the UK rail network.

The contest is being run by RIBA Competitions on behalf of the rail industry’s Enabling Innovation Team (EIT), which forms part of the Future Railway programme, and HS2. The Department for Transport is funding the competition.

The judges include architect Martin Knight of Knight Architects and structural engineer Mark Whitby.

EIT director David Clarke said: ‘HS2 and increased electrification both support rail’s need to efficiently accommodate more capacity. This is an opportune moment, ahead of HS2 being physically built, to look at the feasibility of improving the aesthetics of overhead line electrification when creating new infrastructure.’

HS2 Ltd technical director Professor Andrew McNaughton said: “ look forward to seeing the innovative ideas that I’m sure this competition will deliver.”

For further details and to enter please visit the competition website at: www.ribacompetitions.com/ols. The closing date for design submissions is 29 January 2014.

Probably this idea was inspired by National Grids pylon design competition, which delivered the T pylon www.nationalgridt-talk.com/?tag=t-pylon a radical departure from the lattice towers we are familiar with.

If a more elegant gantry design is found, I suspect there would be pressure for Network Rail to use it elsewhere on electrification projects in the future especially in National Parks etc.

 

[starrymarkb]

I can see it being something like this

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

If a more elegant gantry design is found, I suspect there would be pressure for Network Rail to use it elsewhere on electrification projects in the future especially in National Parks etc.

Just too late for the 900 route miles of wiring now being designed for CP5 installation.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I can see it being something like this

SNCB have curved gantrys on the High Speed Line between Brussels and Aachen (in some places)

 

[59CosG95]

Might look more aesthetically pleasing on HS2 at least, or for the WC/EC portal/headspan renewal stage...

 

[swt_passenger]

The original article attempts to emphasise the issue by showing a signal gantry, which HS2 won't have at all?

The electrification gantry in the distance would have been much less eye-catching...

 

[HSTEd]

So we waste money on a pointless PR exercise designing paper gantries that will never be used.

Money that could have been used to buy real gantries.

 

[asylumxl]

I'd rather the gantry be practical than look nice.

 

[IKBrunel]

not that difficult to bend metal profiles into curves by running back and forth between 3 offset rollers a few times. As a % of the cost of electrification / new lines the extra machining cost is peanuts.

OHLE can look quite industrial. I think if a more elegant design can be used in National Parks, Areas of outstanding natural beauty then that will ease public concerns about electrification & new lines. Begin a democracy of sorts public acceptance is necessary consideration. Furthermore if architectural OHLE is innovated here, then it might be exportable.

 

[59CosG95]

not that difficult to bend metal profiles into curves by running back and forth between 3 offset rollers a few times. As a % of the cost of electrification / new lines the extra machining cost is peanuts.

OHLE can look quite industrial. I think if a more elegant design can be used in National Parks, Areas of outstanding natural beauty then that will ease public concerns about electrification & new lines. Begin a democracy of sorts public acceptance is necessary consideration. Furthermore if architectural OHLE is innovated here, then it might be exportable.

In AoNBs and National Parks, masts disguised as trees, while expensive, would really work in masking the line somewhat. Often thought about this for an electrified West Highland Line.

 

[starrymarkb]

I've seen Swiss OHLE that was pretty much just a telegraph pole with the framework - it was low voltage though 1500v IIRC

Also Western Power seem to be using wooden poles to replace 3 wired 100kV pylons - https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=50.92...=kfQDXF5f8XtWycclKqYMTw&cbp=12,143.01,,1,7.33

 

[ryan125hst]

The original article attempts to emphasise the issue by showing a signal gantry, which HS2 won't have at all?

The electrification gantry in the distance would have been much less eye-catching...

And they have also shown some old Virgin Trains Mark 2's. How long since they were withdrawn on the WCML? :roll:

 

[IKBrunel]

I've seen Swiss OHLE that was pretty much just a telegraph pole with the framework - it was low voltage though 1500v IIRC

Also Western Power seem to be using wooden poles to replace 3 wired 100kV pylons - https://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=50.92...=kfQDXF5f8XtWycclKqYMTw&cbp=12,143.01,,1,7.33

Hmm.. Wooden poles do have the advantage over steel or reinforced concrete that they don't need earth bonding at ground level because there would be no touch potential during faults, this makes a big difference for public distribution, but in the context of railways the tracks need bonding anyway. Wood doesn't last as long as galv steel, & cost of periodic replacement would be high for OHLE. Also I'm not sure what type of wood is used for poles & whether is sustainable (I suspect it might be some tropical hardwood). sorry..

 

[SS4]

I'd rather the gantry be practical than look nice.

Try telling the NIMBYs (who'll do anything to delay HS2 in hope of it's eventual cancellation) that

edit: although I've just come to the conclusion that they'd hate any gantry

 

[HSTEd]

Hmm.. Wooden poles do have the advantage over steel or reinforced concrete that they don't need earth bonding at ground level because there would be no touch potential during faults, this makes a big difference for public distribution, but in the context of railways the tracks need bonding anyway. Wood doesn't last as long as galv steel, & cost of periodic replacement would be high for OHLE. Also I'm not sure what type of wood is used for poles & whether is sustainable (I suspect it might be some tropical hardwood). sorry..

The people that used to be the Railway Technical Branch (or whatever they used to call themselves) before privatisation did a Low Cost Branch electrification report that I managed to obtain by FOI (before it was released and talked about a bit on this forum).

They estimated that simple buried telephone pole type support poles would be viable on branch lines and would last many decades, as such poles do last today.

Additionally there is the increasingly widespread use of fibreglass telephone poles that could be used instead of wood if it use is deemed problematic.

 

[talltim]

I'd rather the gantry be practical than look nice.

Can't they be both?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

The people that used to be the Railway Technical Branch (or whatever they used to call themselves) before privatisation did a Low Cost Branch electrification report that I managed to obtain by FOI (before it was released and talked about a bit on this forum).

They estimated that simple buried telephone pole type support poles would be viable on branch lines and would last many decades, as such poles do last today.

Additionally there is the increasingly widespread use of fibreglass telephone poles that could be used instead of wood if it use is deemed problematic.

Hmmm... wooden poles on branch lines?

It took me a minute to twig that...

 

[pablo]

Ha, ha.

Sikta spruce and they are so full of resin, they last for ever and ever, as long as the foot end is sealed.

 

[Kneedown]

I can see it being something like this

I've seen that style of gantry in the SW of France in the Ychoux area. I have to say they do have a rather pleasing "retro" look about them (i believe they are a 50's design?)
Be nice to see something similar on electrified routes in scenic areas.

 

[1018509]

Hmmm... wooden poles on branch lines?

It took me a minute to twig that...

Yeah! Log in here to see the entries -

 

[Geeves]

I liked these ones on the way into Prauge

http://www.railvolution.net/railvolution/upload/a-husarz-in-praha_b.jpg

 

[jopsuk]

Nice! Modern, stylish and entirely practical- I even notice a single line, single-side version in there

 

[HowardGWR]

Yeah! Log in here to see the entries -

Can mods nip this in the bud? I don't know what they are barking on about.

 

[L&Y Robert]

Hmmm... wooden poles on branch lines?

It took me a minute to twig that...

There once was a catenary system supported on wooden poles, on the Lancaster-Heysham branch. Not so Lune-atic!
Just branching out the thread a bit, praps I'll leave it now.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Nice! Modern, stylish and entirely practical- I even notice a single line, single-side version in there

Third rail has the best ones:

 

[Welly]

The Milwaukee Road used wooden poles on their 3000V DC OHL system through the Rockies from 1915. They abandoned the electrification in 1974 partly due to the fact that so many poles had rotted and needed replacement (also there wasn't enough traffic to justify electrification so don't expect the West Highland line to get wired! )

The only example of aesthetically designed OHLE masts in the UK, I can think of is over the Royal Border Bridge near Berwick-upon-Tweed; they had to be made narrow enough not to intrude on the classic view.

 

[HSTEd]

AIUI the main reason the Milwaukee Road scrapped the electrification because the costs had been double entered, making it look like it was losing money when in fact the electrics were all that was keeping it afloat.

 

[Crossover]

Whatever happens...don't use headspan on main lines again!

In AoNBs and National Parks, masts disguised as trees, while expensive, would really work in masking the line somewhat. Often thought about this for an electrified West Highland Line.

Urgh...having seen attempts at masking things as trees, I'm not so sure this is such a good idea...

 

[The Decapod]

Why not just use the existing designs but paint them dark green? A simple and elegant solution!

 

[edwin_m]

Urgh...having seen attempts at masking things as trees, I'm not so sure this is such a good idea...

Dunno, there's a mobile phone mast near here that provides an excellent justification to use cheap plastic trees on a model railway.

 

[jon0844]

I went on a press trip with Orange in the 1990s to Cumbria where they installed the first cell site disguised as a tree. Shame the tree was some Canadian tree type that still stood out amongst all the native trees!

It was so wet and windy that besides our private jet nearly skidding off the runway before we even got there, we never really got to see it close up as it was so muddy.

If you could somehow make the gantries appear like trees, with a long connecting branch, it could possibly look quite nice, especially along the viaducts, but probably stupidly expensive and hard to do in a convincing manner.