Elbe Crossing 1

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The northern carrying pylons of Elbe Crossing 2 (foreground) and 1 (background)

Elbe Crossing 1 is a group of masts providing an overhead crossing of 220kV three phase AC current line across the River Elbe. Constructed between 1959 and 1962 as part of the line from Stade to Hamburg north, it consists of 4 masts:

Each of the two portal masts is a guyed mast 50 meters in height with a crossbeam at a height of 33 meters. One of these masts stands on the Schleswig-Holstein bank of the Elbe and the other on the Lower Saxony bank.
Two identical carrying masts 189 meters in height, each weighing 330 tons, ensure the necessary passage height of 75 meters over the Elbe. One stands on the island of Lühesand, the other in the Buhnenfeld on the Schleswig-Holstein side.

Because of the swampy terrain, each mast's foundation is built on stakes rammed into the ground. The Lühesand portal mast rests on 41 stakes and the one on the Buhnenfeld on 57. In contrast to the usual construction of such lattice steel pylons the direction of the line passes diagonally over the square ground cross section of the pylon, which has resulted in certain savings in material. The two crossbeams for the admission of the 6 conductor cables are at a height of 166 meters and 179 meters. The mast on the Buhnenfeld bears at a height of 30 meters a radar facility belonging to the Water and Navigation Office of the Port of Hamburg. Each portal mast is equipped with stairs and gangways for maintenance of flight safety beacons and with a hoist for lifting heavy loads.

Elbe Crossing 1 was supplemented in the 1970s by Elbe Crossing 2.