Mechanical Engineering Division - Tower Testing Station

The Mechanical Engineering Division established in 1976 and prior to this, the Model Tower Testing Laboratory was also established and was operational. All though some of the tower manufacturers have tower testing facilities and being captive in nature and not available to others in the fi eld and experiencing delay in commissioning of transmission projects, the Government of India decided to setup a tower testing station under CPRI. Based on the requirements and foreseeing the future power demand and forecast for new power projects in the country, Prototype Tower Testing Station (PTTS) was established and commissioned during 1976 (Inaugurated by Ministry of Power). The station was opened to commercial tests as third party certifi cation as well as for R&D oriented tests with the concept of development of new designs in transmission towers and a full fl edged model tower testing laboratory was strengthened/established during 1982. The requirement for testing other transmission components like conductors, insulators, etc. Vibration Laboratory was established during 1978. Further, due to installation of new transmission lines of higher rating of 400 kV and above, for studying the Vibration characteristics of hardware/accessories Wake Simulation Laboratory established during 1985. Further, during the year 1990 Foundation Testing Centre was established. Over the years the division has been augmented to facilitate higher category/rating of transmission towers and its components in line with growth of power industry. CPRI is an R&D Institute and for catering to the needs of utilities to facilitate the design, development and testing of the various components of overhead transmission line system under one roof, the division established a design and consultancy wing. The standardization of transmission towers, design and analysis of transmission towers were facilitated since 1980.