30 m Floodlight Mast: Design, Foundation, What Determines the Price

Design of the PMV-30 mast

A 30 m mast is a multi-sided steel shaft built from sections. The sections are joined telescopically or on flanges, which makes transport easier. At the top sits the head frame (the crown): a mounted frame with platforms (cassettes) for the floodlights. It can be fixed or lowering. A lowering crown has a raising and lowering mechanism, so the floodlights are serviced on the ground without special equipment. The shaft carries a ladder with a guard and rest platforms, and at the bottom there is a vandal-resistant hatch.

To read a designation, take PMV-20-4.II-3.2 as an example: the first number after PMV is the height in metres (for this mast it would be PMV-30), then come the wind pressure region, the terrain type and the equipment area.

Where the PMV-30 sits in the unified range

The unified range has four masts, and the PMV-30 is the third tallest. Each height has its own foundation anchor cage with a matching number of anchors:

The anchor cage’s embedment depth is 1,200 mm for all four heights. All types are rated for up to 16 floodlights and a maximum windward equipment area of 3.2 m² — see the TP-PMV.21.01 catalogue for details.

Foundation for a 30 m mast

The foundation is reinforced concrete, with a platform at the bottom (the mushroom) to resist overturning. The mast is fixed to it with anchor bolts set on two templates, so the holes in the base flange line up exactly with the anchors. We design the foundation for the ground geology and the climate of the region where your site is.

A floodlight mast under the PUE: earthing and power supply

How a mast is earthed and what feeds it is decided by the site’s electrical design, not by the mast itself. For earthing, PUE (2026 edition), cl. 6.1.48, requires the following: when outdoor lighting fittings are protectively earthed, reinforced-concrete and metal poles (and wire ropes) must be connected to the PE conductor in networks with an isolated neutral and to the PEN conductor in networks with an earthed neutral.

If the mast stands on a substation site, cl. 4.2.165 requires its earth electrode to be connected to the substation earth electrode, observing the conditions of cl. 4.2.163. Where those conditions cannot be met, three vertical electrodes 3 to 5 m long are needed in addition, within 5 m of the edge of the mast foundation, and if the distance along the earth electrode from the point where the mast is connected to the point where the power transformer (or shunt reactor) is connected is more than 15 m but under 40 m, surge arresters must also be fitted on the terminals of those windings of the power transformer that are rated up to 35 kV.

Where the mast is used as a lightning rod, the wiring to it and to the equipment on it, from the point where it leaves the cable structure and onward along the mast, must be made with metal-sheathed cable or with cable without a metal sheath run in metal pipes. The sheath or pipe must be earthed, and near the mast such cables must be laid directly in the ground for at least 10 m (cl. 4.2.167).

Clauses 4.2.165 and 4.2.167 sit in chapter 4.2, which covers switchgear and substations above 1 kV (its scope is cl. 4.2.1), so whether they reach a mast outside a substation is for the designer to decide. For lines feeding floodlights on structures carrying lightning rods of open switchgear above 1 kV, cl. 6.3.37 refers directly to chapter 4.2. The designer takes the final values for the site from the current text of the Rules for the Arrangement of Electrical Installations (PUE). Lightning protection of the mast itself is covered in Lightning Protection of Masts and Towers, earthing of metal lighting poles in Grounding of Metal Lighting Poles.

What determines the price of a 30 m mast

• the number and weight of the floodlights, and of the equipment platforms;
• the crown: fixed, or lowering with a lifting mechanism;
• the wind region and terrain type of the site;
• the foundation: design and embedded parts for the actual soil;
• coating (hot-dip galvanising, plus aviation marking for airports if needed), delivery and installation, which is carried out by a licensed construction partner company.

Documents and guarantees

Each mast is supplied with a passport, an operating manual and accompanying documentation. The full specification of the PMV range, including design service life, materials and corrosion protection, is on the Floodlight Masts page.

Example: a set of masts for a 500 lx pitch

Take the typical scheme from Stadium Lighting: for 500 lx it uses four 30 m masts and 40 floodlights of 2 kW each, which is 10 per mast. For every floodlight we assume the upper limit of the PMV range, 0.2 m² and 20 kg, and compare the totals per mast with the PMV-30 limits:

The area margin is 3.2 − 2.0 = 1.2 m², room for 6 more floodlights. Heavier or larger floodlights need an individual calculation.

Head frame for a 30 m mast: fixed or lowering

The choice depends on who will service the floodlights and how often:

Checklist before ordering

• the height has been confirmed by a lighting calculation, not just the 25° angle (there is an example in PMS, PMZH and our PMV);
• the floodlights per mast fit the PMV-30 limits on number, area and mass;
• the wind pressure region (1–4) and terrain type (II–IV) are known; W0 values for regional capitals are in Wind Regions of Ukraine;
• you have the engineering-geological survey results for the foundation design;
• head frame, lightning rod and aviation marking are decided;
• access for transport and a crane has been checked: the shaft sections are up to 12 m long, so a 30 m mast has at least three of them.

What to send for a calculation is described in How to Order Poles and Masts.