Dead-end tower

A dead-end transmission tower uses horizontal strain insulators at the end of conductors.

Dead-end towers may be used at a substation as a transition to a "slack span" entering the equipment, when the circuit changes to a buried cable, when a transmission line changes direction by more than a few degrees, or at intervals along a straight run to limit the extent of a catastrophic collapse.

Dead-end towers can resist unbalanced forces due to line weight and tension, contrasted with suspension towers which mostly just support the conductor weight and have relatively low capacity for unbalanced load.

Dead-end towers may use earth anchor cables to compensate for the asymmetric attachment of the conductors.

It is used when the overhead power line terminates, and is connected to substation equipment, or transitions to underground cable.

Longer wire sections thus reduce installation work and cost.