Wind farm crane

[JTL]

A couple pics from a wind farm project, next to where Im working.

 

[curly]

It's amazing the crane can reach that high, I think I'll pass!

 

[dirt digger]

theres a video of that process somewhere on Youtube...pretty sweet

 

[greywynd]

I keep wondering, what sort of base are these things on? There must be some dirt moved for them.....anyone been involved in it or know anything about it?

 

[John C.]

Where is that project at? I've been to the Ellensburg farm and seen the one by Bickleton from a distance but both of those are in desert areas. There's too much grass in those photos.

Great shots of the crane.

Thanks!

 

[RocksnRoses]

I keep wondering, what sort of base are these things on? There must be some dirt moved for them.....anyone been involved in it or know anything about it?

Greywynd, I have posted some imformation with photos here: https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=7186
Post no: 23.

Rn'R.

 

[JTL]

Where is that project at? I've been to the Ellensburg farm and seen the one by Bickleton from a distance but both of those are in desert areas. There's too much grass in those photos.

Great shots of the crane.

Thanks!

This is just south of Arlington, Oregon on Highway 19. We are digging a new cell at the landfill just up the road.
Jason

 

[greywynd]

Greywynd, I have posted some imformation with photos here: https://www.heavyequipmentforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=7186
Post no: 23.

Rn'R.

Dang...I'd seen the first of that thread, and the end (oops!) but had missed teh wind farm stuff. Those towers look identical to the ones they are putting up here in some areas of Ontario.

Any idea the size of the hole for the base? Hard to tell from the pictures, nothing really to tell the scale. Looks big, understandably, just curious as to how big.

 

[RocksnRoses]

Any idea the size of the hole for the base? Hard to tell from the pictures, nothing really to tell the scale. Looks big, understandably, just curious as to how big.

The hole is about 50 - 60 feet across and 7 - 8 feet deep. I think the concrete footing was about 40 feet diameter and nearly 6 feet thick. These footings took about 200 cubic meters of concrete and they were for 1.5 megawatt generators. The bigger generators would have larger footings. After they poured all of the bases, they actually went and dug around them again and poured another meter width of concrete right around the base. I am not quite sure why, but they must have been a bit nervous about something. If you Google Wind Tower Footings, or Wind Tower Foundations, there is quite a bit of imformation on the dimensions of various wind towers.

Nice shots of the crane, JTL, they had a 400 ton crane at the windfarm here, but I didn't get to see it.

Rn'R.

 

[surfer-joe]

Saw a lot of wind farm machinery going up this summer. Passed by this farm as construction was getting settled in.

 

[equippartsdir]

Wind Farm Foundations

Okay Fellas,
This is my first attempt at posting pics. Hope it works!

 

[farm_boy]

Here are a few picts taken earlier this year while i was on a wind farm job.

 

[farm_boy]

all leading up to this....

 

[JTL]

Wow! Thanks for the foundation pics Farm Boy. I would have never thought the bases would be that big. I just assumed they would dig a hole strait down, put a basket in and fill it with concrete.
The pics make more sence though. Spread the wieght out over a larger base, a bigger area to absorb the rotation mass. Pretty interesting!
Jason

 

[Steve Frazier]

They are huge! I wonder how many yards of concrete total? One thing that surprises me is the cold joints between the base footing and dome shaped base, then again with the connection for the column. I'd think it would be stronger if it were poured as a unit, or at least with keyways.

 

[digger242j]

I imagine that would be a pretty tricky pick for the crane operator too, since they generally only build those things where it's, ya know...windy.

 

[JTL]

I took my pics on a Sunday. I was taking the girl friend out to show her around my job and to peek around the wind farm. The week before the wind blew like mad for 3 days. The safety dude I was talking to said they can only pick when the winds blowing less than 10mph. Kinda like making hay when the sun shines!!
Jason

 

[RocksnRoses]

They are huge! I wonder how many yards of concrete total?

The footings for the towers here took approximately 300 cubic yards of concrete to support 1.5 megawatt generators. I would imagine that the 2 and 3 megawatt generators would have even larger footings.

Rn'R.

 

[EZ TRBO]

I know that the ones that will soon be going up in Southwest Wisconsin are calling for 450 cubic yards of concrete per tower. Talking right now one area is looking at 35 to 47 towers. When work starts I'll be sure to have pics, just hope right now our company is able to secure the rock and concrete for the project.

Trbo

 

[ConstSite]

The crane in the first few photos of this post looks like the "new" Kobelco SL6000 from Buckner Heavylift. That should be the same crane that was on display at ConExpo earlier this year.

Hey EZ Trbo, when and where is that wind farm going up? What's the name?

- Chris