Design transmission line towers in Norway
Kjerag, Rogaland, Eva Widenoja, Transmission tower, Power in balance
A specially designed transmission line tower has been erected close to tourist destination Kjerag in Rogaland, Norway. EFLA in cooperation with industrial designer Eva Widenoja designed the towers that have attracted considerable attention.
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The transmission line towers at Rogaland.
Statnett, the owner and operator of the Norwegian transmission system has been working on strengthening and expanding the transmission system to enable transport of clean renewable energy to continental Europe. For over a decade EFLA has worked closely with Statnett to achieve this goal by upgrading existing lines and designing new.
The towers are located beside a restaurant and a view point popular for tourists, so the towers were required to be timeless, beautiful and well adapted to the environment. Widenoja Design is accredited with the idea and appearance of the towers. EFLA's part was structural design, technical specifications and detail design of the towers.
Nature inspired the design towers
The spectacular nature in Rogaland inspired the industrial designer, Eva Widenoja. “From a technical and environmental point of view, the towers had to be both impressive and powerful. That gave me the foundation for towers with a rather prominent design. While simultaneously I wanted to design something that incorporated the raw natural forms; the steep hill and the view of a golden and distinctive landscape on the other side of the fjord. I divided the towers in three so they wouldn't block the view. The towers resemble the surrounding landscape's lines and shapes. It was important to make them stand out, yet still blend well with the environment”, says Eva Widenoja at Widenoja Design.
Climbing system and design inside the towers
The towers were specially designed, both on the outside as well as the inside, as workers needed to be able to climb the towers from the inside. EFLA´s civil engineer, Gudmundur M. Hannesson, was responsible for the design of the internal climbing system. He says that there were many considerations to be taken. “A thorough job has been done in all terms of design. We had to consider safety and accessibility in the towers, so workers could climb safely. Despite some challenges, we are very pleased with the results.” says Hannesson.
Same technology used in Taipei 101
The towers are slim and are thus exposed to wind induced vibrations. They were therefore built with tuned mass dampers at the top, the same technology used in the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan, one of the world's tallest buildings. The tower's damper is a bit more modest, weighing 200 kg against 660 tons, but the principles are the same.