A system for monitoring the state of electrical power supply and mechanical tension in an overhead contact line

A system for monitoring overhead contact lines for the electrical drive of vehicles, the lines being subdivided into independent segments for electrical power supply and for mechanical tensioning, the system comprising, for each of said independent line segments, a control device provided with a circuit connected through electrical cables to one or more sensors of the mechanical tension of the cables of the controlled line segments, to activate an alarm or shut off the electrical power supply to the conductors of said segment when the value of said mechanical tension is outside a range of acceptability, wherein said sensor for controlling the state of mechanical tensioning of a single conductor of the contact line comprises a linear structure fastened to the conductor, above said conductor, by means of at least two terminals integral with said linear structure and distanced from each other along the conductor, and a third terminal fastened to the conductor and applied to a load cell to measure the force transmitted by the conductor to said load cell orthogonally to the conductor itself, said force being correlated to the state of mechanical tension of the conductor.