Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

World’s Tallest Electricity Pylon for Single Phase AC Powerline

Posted by Alex Turnbull, Friday, 19th September 2008

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Update: Apologies pylon fans, as Jonathan points out in the comments, we’ve mistakenly identified the wrong huge white and orange power pylons. The pylons in this post are in fact the Elbe Crossings 1 and 2, and the actual World’s Tallest Electricity Pylons for Single Phase AC Powerline are here instead.

This is, wait for it… the World’s Tallest Electricity Pylon for Single Phase AC Powerline – which forms part of the Bremen-Industriehafen Weser Powerline Crossing, Bremen, Germany.

There are actually four of these 111 m tall pylons, carrying two parallel sets of single phase AC powerline across the Elbe, and all four look to be painted a lovely stripe of white and International Orange (a colour often used to help people avoid flying planes into tall things).

Especially for dr.R. and cookie monster.

11 Responses to 'World’s Tallest Electricity Pylon for Single Phase AC Powerline'

  1. cookie monster says:

    Hey – i dont say this enough but – i love you guys! :) Pylons? International Orange? Two of my favourite things – after cookies of course!

  2. Michi il Disperso says:

    Hey! But in Sicily (Italy) there are 2 huge pylon with an impressive 200 meters of height!! .. but i don’t know if they are single fase AC or What the hell is that.. :P They connect Sicily with Italy across the Sicily Canal, From Scilla:

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

    to Cariddi:

    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  3. Jonathan says:

    Notice what is missing from the Sicily pylons? The cables! They are now underwater, but the towers have been retained as monuments. http://flickr.com/photos/snuffy/2597812184/

  4. Jonathan says:

    I’m not sure the facts of this post are correct. According to Wikipedia, these pylons are actually 227m and 189m tall. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Crossing_2

    And while some of the cables between the taller pair carry single phase (for the railways), the tallest carrying exclusively single phase are the Bremen-Industriehafen Weser Powerline Crossing. And funnily enough, these are 111m tall! Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benutzer:Dralon/Archiv

  5. Jonathan says:

    And I can’t leave a post about long power lines without mentioning the Aust crossing, the longest in the UK, with 148.75m pylons, running alongside the Severn Bridge. Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aust_Severn_Powerline_Crossing

  6. Alex says:

    Thanks Jonathan, you’re absolutely correct. I’ve updated the post.

  7. Michi il Disperso says:

    Oh.. tes.. sorry.. i forgot the cables XD

  8. dr.R. says:

    I’m honoured… Yet next time you should turn on the labels – Bremen is not exactly located on the Elbe River ;)

  9. cookie monster says:

    I feel slightly responsible for the confusion. A quick bit of wiki-ing and googling led me to the original pylons which , no matter what, do look pretty cool.
    My main motivation was that they looked cool and, although its no excuse, i had been misled by wikipedia and google (which, as we all know, are NEVER wrong) and so set in motion the chain of events that led to mistake. I humbly apologise for the deception and any embarrassment i have brought upon the otherwise scrupulously researched Google Sightseeing website.*

    • although i cant help pointing out that perhaps you should not take my word for anything because i am a bit of a space cadet and prone to making large, embarrassing mistakes! :)
  10. James says:

    Cookie,

    Thank you for contacting Google Sightseeing.

    Please be advised that I have now begun an internal investigation into the “Believing what Cookie Monster Wrote” debacle that occured late last week.

    Needless to say, heads will certainly roll over this devastating dip in our otherwise stellar fact-checking record (haha!)

    Regards,

    James Google Sightseeing Customer Services Manager

  11. dr.R. says:

    Google Sightseeing has a Customer Service?

    Why do I have to think of this?