Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has put over 3km of its overhead lines underground at Thursley National Nature Reserve, and one of the old pylons has been incorporated into a unique piece of art at the reserve's Dragon Fly Trail.
The work, which began in 2014, was part of a nationwide scheme that encourages customers to nominate Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks, and National Scenic Areas where the appearance could be enhanced with the removal of electricity poles or pylons. Over the course of its 18-month programme, the teams from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks dismantled 22 wooden poles carrying 11,000 volt lines, and eleven metal pylons dating back to the 1960s which carried the 33,000-volt lines.
Greg Moore, who led the project for Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said: "This is such a beautiful part of Surrey, and the reserve is very popular with visitors, and so we had to make sure that access was maintained at all times during the project. We also had to make sure that our machinery didn't cause any damage to the natural beauty of the landscape."
"As well as having to contend with the ever-changing British weather, another challenge we faced was that this part of the country had been heavily targeted during the war, and so we employed a specialist company to carry out a detailed magnetometer survey of all the land we'd be working in to make sure there were no unexploded bombs from the past."
Once the project was completed and all the new underground cables energised, Thursley National Nature Reserve wanted to create a lasting memorial to the pylons. To do this, and to highlight the diverse range of dragonfly species on the reserve, the reserve's owners, Natural England, commissioned local artists to create a design that recognised both.
If you would like to learn more about the scheme, and how communities can suggest areas that they feel could benefit from a similar undergrounding project, please visit the dedicated section on our website.