Demolition of the 70kV high-voltage line between Malderen and Mechelen

The last pylon of the high-voltage line between Malderen and Mechelen was demolished in Leest near Mechelen yesterday. At the beginning of April 2023, Elia started the further demolition of the 50 remaining pylons on this route. The electricity cables themselves were removed back in 2021 and replaced with underground cables.

Working in phases

The Malderen-Mechelen high-voltage line dates from the 1920s and was no longer suitable to the needs of our society requiring more electricity. For this reason, already in 2020, Elia decided to take the 70kV line out of service and replace it with new 150 kV underground power cables to ensure electricity supply in the region further. A year later, the conductors were removed from the high-voltage pylons. In 2022, the contractor started to demolish a few pylons and in April this year, Elia started to remove the remaining 50 pylons. The last to be demolished was the pylon in Leest.

100-year-old line disappears

The dismantling of high-voltage pylons is done using telescopic cranes. The foundations are then removed. Finally, the soil is repaired so that its condition corresponds with that of the surrounding land. 

“We started in Tisselt and removed the pylons in the direction of Malderen in a first phase. After that, we continued to work towards Mechelen in a subsequent phase. The last pylon was demolished in Leest yesterday”, says Simon November from Elia’s Project Communication department.