Darn windmills always blocking the road :D

[Scooby074]

As i said before, im a big fan of windmills. And i made this thread because alternative energy is a frequent topic of discussion on here.

Locally were in a pretty windy part of the province, and due to this, were experiencing a big surge in windmill installation. There are 2 major projects going on in my county, a 34 turbine, 51 MW install and a 30 turbine 60MW at the other end of the county.

So it was pretty cool to see the following on my way home the other day. Its a base section of a 80m GE 1.5MW turbine. (info on the turbine here GE Energy - 1.5 MW Wind Turbine Technical Specifications )Quite a sight.

Its being carried on a custom Trail King trailer that is capable of articulating on either end of the tower section, so it can negotiate some pretty tight corners. When i was watching it almost made a straight right angle turn!!! The Dutch Heavy Lift company Mammoet is handling the move and erection of the towers.

[Scooby074]

I got a little shutter happy when i saw this so heres a few more

[texasjohn]

Cool... this summer there were rigs on the interstate, almost every time I drove it in daylight, carrying two of the blades on one trailer.... usually three rigs in a row....those blades are really, really long...I'll bet I personally saw at least 100 blades being moved this way... must be a bunch of windmills somewhere north of me!

[tugboat-2]

Hey Scooby, . . interesting!! Not my intention to steal your thunder here, but during the past year, we've seen the same parts and pieces being hauled north through this area. Hillsburgh, just north-east of Guelph, Ontario.

You see them fully errected out in a field and cannot believe the enormous size of the tower sections when they are on that double articulated set of floats on the roadway close up and real! One guy riding high like a cowboy with a stick lifting the wires over occassionally.

Many Wind-Farms being errected here in Ontario, . . but I was never so very impressed as I was last time I visited the north point of your very own Prince Edward Island and the enormous Wind Farm(s) and various set-ups they have there,....and I might say the PEI site has been established there for many, many years, . . . and of course the perfect spot for steady high winds coming in off the sea!!!

Naturally, each time I've sat parked and witnessed the crews getting these sections through town, I have been without my camera,..so I appreciate the photos you have posted.

Once again the gigantic size of the sections is amazing!!! Thanks Scooby!

CHEERS!
. . tug

[Thomas]

That would be worth missing day from work watching from start to finish...driver must have steady hand.

[weldingisfun]

Originally Posted by texasjohn

Cool... this summer there were rigs on the interstate, almost every time I drove it in daylight, carrying two of the blades on one trailer.... usually three rigs in a row....those blades are really, really long...I'll bet I personally saw at least 100 blades being moved this way... must be a bunch of windmills somewhere north of me!

You are right, Texasjohn. Take a drive on up to Amarillo and you will see hundreds of them.
What I can't understand is each time I go up there, about half of them are not turning. Maybe someone knows the reason for half being out of service?

[dmccarty]

I don't know for sure why the are out of service but there was an article in the Wall Street Journal a year or so ago about windmills. One of the problems with the large windmill was the blades. They were having problems building a blade the would not fail.

Which really seems strange. Yes they are large but with modern materials they can't build a blade that will last?

Later,
Dan

[TheKid]

Originally Posted by Thomas

That would be worth missing day from work watching from start to finish...driver must have steady hand.

Take a look at video 7 here. Both drivers have to be paying attention.

[Thomas]

Now that's what you call working together.

[The Dougster]

Windmills in Texas fer sure and they are causing me a major headaches... well, not the windmills themselves but the end result... I'm fussing about a proposed power transmission line that they want to run thru my property in Lampasas County... already have one transmission line running thru there and now they wan to put in another... Grrrrrr