Engineers worked through the night to secure the M4 after a fallen oak damaged an electricity pylon in Winnersh, with the aim of reopening the road today.
The damaged pylon was stabilised using a crane and two spans of cables, upstream and downstream of the tower, were to be slowly and gently lowered to the ground.
Just before 11pm experienced managers Richard Gough and Jo Niven heard the call they were waiting for: "We’re ready to go up the tower!"
Two special cranes were brought from Birmingham: one to suspend the operator in his insulated cabin so he could disconnect the cable spans, and a taller crane to take the pylon’s weight once the cables were disconnected.
Earlier, the upstream and downstream pylons were earthed and two 132kV circuits were taken off-line in Winnersh to remove the threat to the public.
Fourteen families were asked to leave at their leisure on Wednesday. Some arranged their own hotels; others were put up by Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN). Richard Gough, SSEN’s head of engineering, said: "We’ve measured the falling distance of the pylon. All the properties asked to evacuate are beyond the falling distance." He added: "We looked at the closest buildings to the fallen tree and invited the residents to spend the night in a hotel just so they get a good night’s sleep and don’t hear any noise from our operation whilst we make things safe."
Wokingham Borough Council said local roads were experiencing heavy congestion, "although this has been slightly reduced due to the school half‑term." The M4 has been closed between Reading and Bracknell for two nights — first because of a road traffic accident and then because of the hazard from the broken pylon.
The damaged circuits were not part of the higher‑voltage national grid (400kV or 275kV) but were two three‑ended 132kV circuits linking Reading, Maidenhead and bulk supply points across Berkshire. No homes lost power during the emergency thanks to redundancy in the system.
Wokingham Borough Council said the tree strike damaged "three out of the four supporting legs", and caused critical damage to the lattice steel bracings at the pylon base. Richard Gough said: "At SSEN, if it’s not safe, we don’t do it."
Ted O'Neill, Local Democracy Reporter
