£116 million project to take down Dorset pylons has begun
9km of overhead lines will be removed across the county
Last updated 22nd Sep 2022
The first of the high-power overhead lines near Blagdon Hill above Martinstown have been taken down.
It comes after more than two years work which has seen replacement lines buried underground as an alternative route.
The next step, once other wires have been removed, will be to take down the massive pylons carrying the power cables.
In all, 9km of overhead lines will be removed from the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which, at times, has resulted in road closures and diversions for local drivers on minor roads and occasional traffic light control on the main Dorchester to Bridport Road.
The team behind the work, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure, have also had to construct their own road to get to most of the site.
Work mostly continued throughout several periods of Covid lockdown.
The National Grid works will result in the removal of 22 pylons between Winterbourne Abbas and Friar Waddon at a total cost of £116 million, improving the landscape.
Paul Hamnett, Senior Project Manager for National Grid, said:
“This is the culmination of three years of complex engineering and construction work which would not have been possible without the dedication and expertise of the site team and the patience of the local community. Our goal has always been to enhance this beautiful landscape, and now we’re seeing the fruits of our labour with the fields we used for civil engineering works being reinstated and, ultimately, the successful removal of 8.8km of overhead cables and 22 pylons.”
Tom Munro, Dorset AONB Partnership Manager said:
“It’s great to see the pylons finally coming down as this ground-breaking engineering project reaches completion. The many archaeological discoveries arising from the project have confirmed and enriched our understanding of the South Dorset Ridgeway as an ancient ceremonial landscape of national significance, with its huge number and variety of scheduled monuments from neolithic stone circles to Bronze Age barrows and Iron Age hill forts.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the landscape afresh, less cluttered by modern infrastructure, with the ancient monuments once again taking centre stage and reminding us of the long story, stretching back into prehistory, of human interaction with the land.”