Transposition tower

Transposition tower. On the right side, the phases are rotated upward, on the left side downward.

In electrical power transmission, a transposition tower is a transmission tower that changes the relative physical positions of the conductors of a transmission line. A transposition tower allows these sections to be connected together, while maintaining adequate clearance for the conductors. This is important since it distributes electrical impedances between phases of a circuit over time, reducing the problem of one conductor carrying more current than others.

Double-circuit lines are usually set up with conductors of the same phase placed opposite each other. This reduces the reactance due to mutual inductance; the reactance of both circuits together is less than half that of one circuit. For example, a section of a line may be (top-to-bottom) phases A-B-C on the left, also phases C'-B'-A' on the right. The next section may be B-C-A on the left, also A'-C'-B' on the right. Therefore, the rotation on each side of the tower will be opposite.

Here, on the right the phases are rotated; on the left, two phases are swapped, thus the rotation sense changed.

See also

• Transposition (telecommunications)
• Suspension tower
• Dead-end tower