Computer-aided

design
t r a n s m i s si o n"
li n e s

of

Alain H. Peyrot
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA

Eric M. Peyrot
Power Line Systems, Madison, WI 53705, USA

Thomas Carton
Electricite de France, Paris, France

This paper gives an overview of structural and geometric design concepts for electrical power lines. It presents a new integrated computerized environment for generating new designs or evaluating
existing ones. In that environment, productivity can be radically
improved and the risk of errors is reduced. New design concepts that
achieve greater economy can be implemented. The manner in which
such diverse utility groups as surveyors, planners, engineers and CAD
technicians interact with each other can be improved. Electrical
parameters or power lines are only discussed insofar as they affect
the line geometry.
Keywords: transmission lines, CAD
An electric power line is a very complex electrical and
structural system for the transport of energy over large
distances. The sole purpose of the structural system is to
support a given amount of aluminium and keep its
distance from the ground and nearby obstacles above
specified values. The amount of aluminium in a conductor is dictated by the system planners based on
anticipated energy transfer needs.
Figure 1 summarizes the broad categories and subcategories of design parameters normally considered.
The line route is a corridor made up of straight line
segments between corner points (line angle points). An
~angle structure' is required at each angle point: its
loading is primarily affected by the cable tensions.
Structures between angle points are 'tangent structures'
which are not affected by the cable tensions, but by the
wind and weight spans which they must support. New
line route locations can be optimized by comparing total
installed costs of alternatives. However, there is overwhelming pressure in developed areas of Europe and the
US to reuse existing right-of-ways through upgrading.
The pressure is often imposed by environmental concerns and prohibitive acquisition costs. Once selected, a
route is completely described by its geometry and soil
characteristics, traditionally in the form of plan and profile paper drawings. This article shows the advantages of
using a GIS-type electronic representation of the terrain
and the line corridor. The line voltage affects its future
electrical losses, electric and magnetic fields are
required clearances to ground and obstacles. The climate

in the area of the line is the basis for the calculation of

design loads to resist wind, snow or temperature
changes. This is done through minimum code
requirements ~, or better, by using recently proposed
reliability-based procedures 23. The security of a line is
related to the ability of the utility to restore service
quickly after failure. This requires that the possibility of
cascading failure be minimized and that a capability for
rapid restoration be in place. Long cascades can be
limited by specifying adequate longitudinal strength at

Route

Environment, right-of-way, line angles,

profile, obstacles, soil properties
Voltage
Standard values, losses, required
clearances, Electrical effects
Climate
Wind, ice, snow, temperature, codes,
reliability
Security
Anticascading measures, consequences of failure
Ruling span
Range of spans
Conductor
Type, bundling, size, tension
Structure families
Structural concepts and materials, top
geometry, insulation, grounding
type-tangent, angle, dead end
detailed components design heights,
foundations
Spotting
Structure locations on terrain
Construction/maintence Safety, equipment
Figure 1

Line design parameters

0141-0296/93/040229-09
1993 Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4 229

Computer-aided design of transmission lines: A. H. Peyrot et al.

every structure or by inserting stronger structures at
fixed intervals.
The ruling span is a single theoretical span length
which is used to calculate cable tensions for various
loading conditions. The cable in the ruling span
simulates the behaviour of the entire length of cable in
several spans between adjacent dead ends in the real
line. At the preliminary design stage, the ruling span is
an assumption. Once a line is spotted the actual ruling
span can be calculated. If the assumed value is not within
10% of the actual value, the assumed ruling span is normally revised. This is a trial and error process best
handled by computer. The conductor is the most important part of the line. It typically account for 35% of the
total cost of a line 4~. Conductor selection or optimization is therefore a very important design step. The selection of conductor tension involves a trade-off between
the increased costs of angle structures (affected by cable
tensions) and the decreased costs of tangent structures
(smaller sags requiring smaller heights) at higher conductor tensions. Excessive tension should be avoided as
it increases the conductor's vulnerability to fatigue from
aeolian vibrations. The calculation of cable tensions is
not a trivial matter as it must take into account nonlinear
behaviour due to creep and nonrecoverable stretch under
large loads ~'7.
Transmission structures are manufactured from all the
primary construction materials: steel, wood and concrete. The structural schemes can be self-supporting or
guyed. A structure top geometry is dictated by insulation
considerations, often based on an accepted risk of
flashover and concerns for electric and magnetic fields.
Structures of a particular configuration and strength are
normally grouped in a family. The family includes different structure types: tangent structures of different
heights, some angle structures capable of specific line
angles (say 0 - 5 , 5 - 4 5 , and above 45 ) and deadend structures. It is uneconomical to include too many
different types of a family. In design calculations, the
strength of a structure can be checked by comparing its
actual wind and weight spans to corresponding
allowable values or by comparing calculated stress
resultants in all or a few critical components to allowable
values. This is discussed further in connection with the
contents of structures' files. Current methods for the
detailed design of structural components and foundations are available in guides and standards s ~2
Structure locations on the terrain have traditionally
been determined by an experienced 'spotter' using a
template-based graphical method. This manual method
is clumsy and is replaced by either interactive computer
spotting or automatic spotting. Optimized automatic
spotting is a complex subject which is discussed in a
companion paper in this issue~.
Construction and maintenance operations should be
well defined at the line design stage. They affect the
choice of structure through design loads and geometry.
The design items in Figure 1 include a very large
amount of information which needs to be accessed or
manipulated by different people: system planners for the
voltage selection; electrical engineers for losses and
insulation
co-ordination;
surveyors,
drafters,
archeologists and environmentalists for the route selection; structural and geotechnical engineers for structural
and foundation design; and operation personel for con-

230

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

struction and maintenance matters. Traditionally, this

information has been handled on paper, causing inefficiency and risk of errors. This article shows how the
information can be organized for efficient computer processing.
Access to many design items may be needed for the
verification of a single component. For example, the
force or moment in a particular member of an angle
structure depends on the model of that structure and its
supported loads. The loads themselves depend on the
location of the structure (line angle, geometries of back
and ahead spans), the specified climatic conditions, the
ruling span, the cable tensions under the climatic conditions and other load assumptions. Some design
parameters are imposed by nature, codes or standards t,
others can be selected by the designer. The selection
may be aided by optimization algorithms similar to those
discussed in detail elsewhere ~

The need for integration

The use of computer programs to assist designers of
electric power lines is widespread. There are numerous
programs for calculating loads, performing sag-tension
calculations, analysing structures, spotting the structures
on a ground profile, producing plan and profile sheets,
etc. However, within one orgamzation, line design programs are often separate entities, possibly having been
acquired over periods of time by different groups. As a
result, the programs may not interact well with each
other: there is potential for inefficiency and risk of error
when the output information from one program is
manually converted to input for another program.
With the recent developments of powerful microcomputers or workstations, mouse-based interactive
graphics, electronic surveying and mature CAD
systems, all at increasingly affordable costs, it is now
possible to integrate all the line design tools into a single
computer environment. An engineer sitting at a single
workstation can start with a map of a proposed line
route, build a complete three-dimensional model of the
line, perform all the engineering calculations and finally
enable the automatic production of plan and profile
sheets and printed reports. All the work can be done
interactively, using mouse-based interactive graphics.
Such an environment was developed by the authors on
MS-DOS machines (386 or better).
Computing integration and increased power also promote new ways of performing certain engineering
calculations. Many existing programs are computerized
implementations of older manual procedures which
required simplifying assumptions. Without the constraints 6f simplifying assumptions better procedures
can now be used to obtain cheaper designs.

Basic design concept: three-dimensional model

of entire line
The overall guiding concept behind the new computer
environment is accessibility to a detailed threedimensional model of an entire line and its right-of-way.
Such a model should include a detailed representation of
the terrain under the line, all structures, all insulators,
and all cables in all spans. Building and modifying the
model should be done interactively, preferably through

Computer-aided design of transmission lines: A. H. Peyrot et al.

corridor is defined interactively by its width and by
selecting with the mouse the comer (alignment) points in
the plan view (see Figure 3)._It should be noted that the
SOZA terrain representation is vastly superior to current
representations by centre and side profiles and
associated clearance lines. It enables calculations of
detailed vertical and lateral clearances to any object
from any phase. It also provides the necessary detailed
information for drafting a plan view inside the CAD
system.
Moving or adding a corner structure in an existing
design is not easily handled by most existing programs.
The move causes instantaneous changes in stations and
offsets, and a change in the centre line profile.
However, with the ability to switch back and forth between XYZA and SOZA terrain representations, a design
can be updated automatically following a corner move.
The corner move is simply made by pointing at the
structure with the mouse and dragging it to its new location on the plan view as illustrated in Figure 4. In programs that deal only with data on a centre profile, the
change described above is very difficult.

the use of a mouse. The three-dimensional approach

requires managing a considerable amount of data.
Therefore, extreme care was taken to break all input
data into standard libraries of cables, structures, loads,
clearance criteria, etc. The items in the various structures and cables libraries are treated as objects which are
mouse selected and which can be interconnected to other
objects. Figure 2 shows the three-dimensional model at
the centre of the environment. Surrounding it are the
various input, output and processing blocks which are
discussed in this paper.

Terrain representation
A three-dimensional GIS-type representation of the terrain was adopted for its versatility and compatibility
with modern electronic surveying equipment and mapping concepts. Terrain points and other points of interest
(such as obstacles) are described by their co-ordinates
(X,Y,Z) in a global co-ordinate system and an attribute
A (or feature code). The attribute is used to define the
characteristics of a particular point or obstacle. It is used
as a pointer to tables of allowable clearances, depending
on a particular phase voltage. The attribute is also used
to assign different symbols which can be drawn on the
computer screen or final paper drawings to identify particular points or obstacles. The assignment of attributes
and the corresponding graphical representations are
completely flexible. This terrain representation will be
referred to as the XYZA model.
For spotting purposes and to reduce the amount of terrain data which is accessed during a single line evaluation, XYZA terrain data are automatically transformed
into corridor data which include station, offset, elevation and feature code of the reduced number of points
located inside the corridor (SOZA representation). The

Design criteria
Design criteria affecting the spotting of a line are normally defined by combinations of wind, ice, snow and
temperature which must be withstood by the structures
or under which minimum clearances should be
maintained ~. Such climatic conditions are described in
load files. Minimum clearances to terrain points or
obstacles are defined for given voltages in a clearance
file. Climatic conditions and clearance files are part of
libraries that can be shared across several projects. They
are created and updated interactively with special input
screens.

Processing
CorddorTerrain

Input

~Ut

Ground + O b m d u

8'DMOdelOf

Ubrarles t~

-I

Figure 2

iii:iiArchM~iiiiiiii!i!i!ii:!i!ii

Overview of integrated environment for line design

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

231

Computer-aided design of transmission lines. A. H. Peyrot et al.

y

Attachment points

AlignmentCorner

" Set I
Set 2
[ ] Set 3

Surveyed Points
X

Profile CorridorWidth
Figure 3

Defining alignment by clicking on terrain point with

mouse

~lm

New Position For

ructure # 4

Before Structure Move

After Structure Move
Figure4

Moving a corner point by dragging it with mouse

HT

Figure 5 Tower height and top geometry

of the structure. Within one set, the attachment points

are numbered consecutively to identify specific phases.
Switching phase numbers in otherwise identical structures can be used to model phase transposition.

Structures

hzsulators: For each attachment set, one connector type

A structure file concentrates in one location all the

geometric
and
mechanical
design
information
(excluding cost) that pertains to a given structure type
and height. Costs, which vary with time, are kept in a
separate file. The structure file also contains data on its
insulators and foundation. More specifically, the structure file contains the following.

must be defined. Clamps, strain insulators, suspension

links or insulators, V-strings or horizontal Vs can be
used. Rigid post insulators should be treated as extensions of the structure, i.e. the tips of the posts are structure attachment points. Connectors and insulators are
described by their strength, geometry and allowable
swing angles. The inclusion of insulators in the structure
file, rather than in a separate insulator file, is dictated by
the fact that allowable swing angles are structure
specific. Thus, a structure such as that shown in Figure
5, with its insulators attached, is treated as a threedimensional object which can be located at any point in
the corridor by clicking on that point with the mouse.
Once the structure is located and its orientation imposed,
the attachment points of all the cables (at the bases of the
insulators) are perfectly defined in space.

Structure height and top geometry: So that the positions

of any point on any cable in any span be known in space
as any structure is added or moved, it is necessary that
the cable connection points be well defined. This is done
by specifying the height of the structure HT and its top
geometry as shown in Figure 5 for a latticed tower. The
top geometry includes sets of attachment points for
ground wires and conductors. A set of cables is an
ensemble of cables with identical properties and tensions. For the example of Figure 5, the two ground
wires are part of cable set 1, the three cables in the left
circuit are part of set 2 and the three cables in the right
circuit are part of set 3. The positions of the attachment
points /'or a set are described in a local co-ordinate
system x,y located at height HT in the transverse plane

232

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

Strength: Four different methods are available to

describe the strength of a structure in a structure file.
Method 1 is the oldest and most common: it is used
in traditional manual spotting and by most automatic
spotting programs. It relies on the most elementary concept of allowable wind and weight spans. For each of

Computer-aided design of transmission lines." A. H. Peyrot et al.

several climatic conditions, say (1) extreme wind; (2)
hot; (3) cold; (4) ice, there are maximum values of wind
and weight spans that cannot be exceeded without
violating a strength or serviceability criterion for the
structure. Method 1 has several shortcomings, the most
serious being that allowable wind and weight spans for
a structure are not intrinsic properties of the structure
alone. They depend on the climatic conditions specified
and the cables which are supported by the structure. If
a designer upgrades a conductor to a different size or
changes a climatic design criterion, the allowable span
values are no longer valid. Therefore, in upgrading or
assessment projects, the allowable spans method is not
desirable. The other problem with the basic allowable
wind and weight spans method is that it ignores possible
interactions between the allowable spans. For example,
a single wood pole supporting a short weight span has
a larger allowable wind span than when it supports the
maximum design weight span. The difference, mostly
caused by the P-6 effect, can exceed 10%, causing some
inherent capacity to be overlooked. In order to take
advantage of allowable spans interaction, method 2 is
proposed.
With method 2, an interaction diagram between
allowable wind and weight spans can be defined for as
many load cases as is desirable. Method 2 can produce
more economical lines than method 1, especially when
used in conjunction with automatic spotting.
Establishing interaction diagrams may be difficult,
unless specialized structural analysis programs are used.
Checking the adequacy of the strength of a structure at
a given location with method 1 or 2 is the preferred
method when automatic optimum spotting is contemplated. This is because it can be done very quickly.
Optimization algorithms require strength checks for
possibly billions of combinations of structure locations.
However, for assessment and upgrading projects,
methods 3 and 4 are more versatile.
Method 3, the critical component method, is a new
way of dealing with the structure strength in the interactive computer environment. With it, the strength of a
structure is described by matrices of influence coefficients and allowable loads or moments in any number of
the structure components. Consider the tower in Figure
6. For a given location on the terrain and a loading
criterion, its loading tree can be determined by the computer in a fraction of a second. The loading tree includes
all the vectors shown on the figure (V,T,L for each
phase) plus the transverse and longitudinal pressures to
be applied to the body of the tower. The quickest way
to determine the force F(k) in member 'k' of the tower
is to multiply the components of the loading tree by
appropriate force influence coefficients. A force
influence coefficient for component 'k' is the force in
that component caused by either: (1) a group of unit
loads applied in the vertical, transverse or longitudinal
direction at a set of structure attachment points (see
Figure 7(a))for the effect of the vertical loads V at the right
attachment points in the right circuit; (2) a unit transverse
or longitudinal pressure (see Figure7(b) or (c));
or (3) the weight of the tower. Note that each component
of wire load (V,T,L) may be applied simultaneously at
two or three attachment points (see Figure 6), and
therefore only needs to generate one influence coefficient per element in the structure. Component 'k' in

e-i
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coefficients

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

233

Computer-aided design of transmission lines: A. H. Peyrot et al.

M~Y(1)
MX(I)
4.-4..

Component 1
SECTION A-A

MY(2)

loads, respectively. With the critical component

method, it is possible to select a structure in the line, and
within one second of time, obtain: the loading tree for
that particular structure; the resulting member forces;
and check the adequacy of each member. Latticed
towers with hundreds of members have been modelled
by this technique.
The last method (method 4) is used if the strength of
a structure is to be described by its complete finite element model. Conceptually, if a structure is selected for
checking, its loading tree is determined first. Control is
automatically passed to the appropriate finite element
program: the structure adequacy is determined and
diagnostics are returned. This last method is not fast
enough for interactive or automated spotting, but it is the
most accurate.

f~

Component 2
SECTION B-B

Figure 8

Wood pole modelled with t w o critical components

Figure 7 has a total of 15 influence coefficients. Storing

a matrix of 15 x 500 force coefficients and a matrix of
2 x 500 component tension and compression capacities,
allows the verification of the adequacy of 500 axial components to be made in a fraction of a second. The two
matrices of force coefficients and component capacities
can be automatically generated by slightly modifying the
tower analysis and design program that was used for the
initial design of the tower.
The above discussion was restricted to structures with
axial-type components (self-supporting or guyed latticed
towers). However, the concept of representing a structure by a collection of components is equally applicable
to structures with bending-type elements, such as poles
and frames. Consider the single circuit wood pole in
Figure 8. It may be decided that the strength of that pole
need only be checked at the base of a typical arm (section A-A) and at the base of the pole (section B-B). In
that case, the support is modelled with only two
bending-type components, its 'critical components'.
This is certainly satisfactory in many applications where
it can be ascertained beforehand that the weak sections
are those selected as components. In components such as
those in Figure 8, the axial force F(k) and the bending
moments about the two principle axes, MX(k) and
MY(k), can also be computed rapidly from a matrix of
force and moments influence coefficients. Then, these
components can be checked by any specified interaction
equation relating forces and moments to corresponding
capacities or allowable stresses.
The strength verification by the component influence
coefficients method assumes linear structural behaviour
under load. Significant P-6 effect in poles can be handled
by multiplying moments by a factor such as
Moment amplification factor = 1/(1 - P/PcR)
where P and PcR are the total vertical and buckling

234

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

Cables
Geometric and mechanical properties for ground wires
and conductors are available in cable libraries. The properties include stress-strain and creep characteristics
which are necessary for sag-tension calculations 6'7.

Line installation
Creation of the three-dimensional line model requires
spotting the structures, stringing the cables (i.e.
establishing their connections), and sagging them
(assigning their tensions). Structure spotting can be done
interactively or automatically.
Manual spotting consists of selecting a structure from
the library, pointing to the desired location on the profile, and giving the orientation of the structure relative
to the direction of the line. Stringing requires selecting
a particular cable, pointing to the particular dead-end
attachment point at the beginning of the tension section,
passing over adjacent tangent structures and closing on
the dead-end attachment point at the end of the tension
section. A line may have several circuits (the ground
wire being considered as a zero voltage circuit), each
with any number of tension sections along the line.
Figure 9 shows how the detailed connections in a portion
of a line can be displayed to verify that the appropriate
connections have been made. Arbitrary colours can be
assigned to any tension section. In the computer screen
views of this paper, only one cable per circuit is
displayed. Inside the environment the displayed cable
and its colour are user selectable. Complex geometries
caused by phase transpositions are taken into account
and resulting phase-to-phase clearance calculations are
done in three dimensions. Sagging can be automatic in
all circuits (to a prescribed level of tension) or it can be
adjusted manually in each tension section.
Automatic optimum spotting uses the mathematical
theory of dynamic programming to find the lowest cost
combination of structure types, heights and locations,
given the constraints of clearances, structure capacities,
allowable insulator swings, etc. The optimization
algorithm which was developed by the authors uses
method 2 described above for structure strengths. It is
described in detail in the companion paper entitled
'Optimization methods for transmission line design 't3.
Method 2 usually leads to more economical solutions
than method 1. Automatic spotting is desirable for new

Computer-aided design of transmission lines."A. H. Peyrot et al.

s e c t i o n DBRg::: Connections a ~ ! a t t a c l ~ e n t s .
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Checkingstructure defined by allowable spans

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

235

Computer-aided design of transmission lines: A. H. Peyrot et al.

"Check s t i ~ c t u r e "

: Click on the desired s t r u c t u r e .

Structure : I
a x i a l components, and 0
bending components.
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Checking tower defined by 354 critical components

lines in open terrain. However, in developed terrain,

there are often too many constraints for the method to be
practical.
Whether the initial installation is made interactively or
automatically, there is always the need for fine tuning
the design before it is finalized. This can be done
through a series of interactive commands such as: Move
Structure, Add Structure, Remove Structure, String Circuit, Sag Circuit, etc.

respectively. The structure in Figure 10 was checked by

the allowable wind/weight span method. That in Figure
11 was modelled by 354 axial components, in that case
all the steel angle members of the tower.
Almost instantaneous sag-tension calculations can be
done for any load case for any tension section. Ruling
spans are recalculated automatically every time a structure is added, moved or removed.

Reports, drafting and archiving

View functions
Since the entire model of a line may cover several miles
of terrain, a complete set of zooming, panning, and scaling functions is available to bring into view any detail of
the line. Information about any component or terrain
point is available by clicking on that particular point.

Calculations
Once the three-dimensional model of a line is
established, any engineering calculation relating to any
component can be performed by selecting the component and the calculation function with the mouse. For
example, Figures 10 and 11 show the results of strength
checks obtained by clicking on structures 4 and 5,

236

Engng. Struct. 1993, Volume 15, Number 4

Once a design is finalized, it can be archived for future

modifications or management. It has been reported that
in developed areas the position of a single structure may
have to be changed two to three times on the average
before final construction. Any one change could cause
changes in alignments and loads, thus adding considerable engineering time to a project. With the threedimensional model in the interactive environment,
changes are very simple tasks. Detailed reports can be
produced. Plan and profile sheets can be produced
automatically on almost any CAD system according to
the user's preferred format. Figure 12 shows how pages
are automatically selected over a short line segment.
Final editing of the plan view may be done on the CAD
system.

Computer-aided design of transmission lines: A. H. Peyrot et al.

J.I

I1
Figure 12 Automatic paging of plan and profile sheets

Conclusions
The main purpose of this paper was to show that through
progress in hardware technology and modelling, it is
now possible for a single individual at a single workstation to perform the work traditionally done by several
groups of professionals. Given terrain data in electronic
form, a single individual can perform the entire
engineering of a line and produce all the necessary
documents for its construction. This is only possible in
an integrated and interactive environment which combines all aspects of transmission line design. Access to
such an environment is changing the way power lines are
designed and assessed. Upgrading of lines, which is
becoming one of the main activities of line engineers,
requires a structure-by-structure evaluation of loads and
capacities under various assumptions for new conductor
types and tensions. This evaluation, which could take
considerable time without access to a three-dimensional
model, can now quickly be performed. The integrated
environment allows better communication between all
the individuals involved in the design and management
of a line. It greatly increases productivity and reduces
the risk of error. What is remarkable is that it can be
done on affordable personal computers.

References
1 National Electricity Safety Code (NESC), ANSI C2-1992, IEEE,
New York, NY, 1992
2 Guidelines for Electrical Transmission Line Structural Loading,
ASCE Manual 74, New York, NY, 1991
3 CIGRE WG 22-06, 'Loading and strength of overhead tranmission
lines', ELECTRA 1991, No. 137, pp. 130-169
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