Towards life-cycle assessment of foundations of guyed towers in electrical transmission lines

Nowadays there has been a great interest in the use of probabilistic methods in problems related to electrical transmission lines. While different types of towers may be used along a transmission line, preference is usually given to guyed towers for its smaller weights and resulting smaller foundation costs. Due to the complex interaction soil-guy-tower, information on this subject is mostly obtained by experimental methods. In this work, experimental results are coupled to systems reliability techniques in the evaluation of failure probabilities of guyed towers foundations. These probabilities represent main ingredients in the estimation of risks associated with potential foundation failures. This is an important step towards the implementation of life cycle methods in the design, operation, and maintenance of electrical transmission lines.