and two additional conductors were installed at the bottom site of the V-shaped pinnacles. This gave a total transmission capacity of 300 MW. Conductors consisting of steel and aluminium with a diameter of 27.8 mm were used. They had an aluminium cross section of 45 mm2 and a steel cross section of 305 mm2. The minimum height of the conductors over the Strait of Messina was 70 metres, to allow large ships to pass safely below. This, together with the span of , required a tension force of 608 N/mm2 in the conductor cables. Antivibration ropes were used to dampen oscillations. By the early 1980s, this transmission capacity was no longer sufficient. It could not be increased by using bundle conductors or more conductive cables, as bundle conductors tend to have much greater wind-induced oscillations than single conductors, which can result in short circuits in such a long span. Normal overhead lines use conducting cables with a larger aluminium portion but these do not have the tensile strength needed for this span. In 1985 a 380 kV three-phase AC submarine cable with a maximum transmission capacity of 1000 MW was laid underneath the Strait of Messina. The electrical crossing was decommissioned in 1993 and the conductors were removed a year later. Today After the removal of the power lines, the pylons remain with protected status as historical monuments and are used for meteorological measurements, high distance rescue training and telecommunications. In 2006, the staircase to the top of the Sicilian pylon was briefly opened to the public, but public access to the structure is now prohibited. The stairway to the top has approximately 1,250 steps. The switching stations at both ends of the span still exist. The former anchor portal at Cannitello Switching Station is still in place but the tensioning system at Torre Faro has been dismantled. The unused power line from Scilla substation to Cannitello remains, while the line from Torre Faro Switching Station to Messina-Santo substation may be completely dismantled. Messina Strait submarine cable The submarine cable across the Strait of Messina was laid in 1985. It has a total transmission capacity of 1000 MW and is a part of the single-circuit 380 kV powerline between Rizziconi substation on the Calabrian mainland () and Sorgente substation on Sicily (). It starts at the end of the overhead line south of Villa San Giovanni (), enters the sea