Page 3 of 4

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:03 pm
by SONNY
Here is another batch of pics for you!
if you look real close, you can see a black speck up on top, thats a 6 foot tall man!
Image
now we have 2 men looking down at us
Image
they are guiding the crane operator to the hub
Image
this id what is at the bottom of it all THE BIG GUY!!
Image
in this pic, notice the man standing behind the crane? the tracks are taller than a man
Image
to get this pic. I had to climb the 50' tall dirtpile just west of the tower!
Image
the size of this thing is hard to really tell or feel just from pic.s
Image

the tracks are 4 feet wide and taller than a man!--the crane is 28 feet wide at track level. they dont use any outriggers on it, just counter-weights. its 28 feet to the top of the BIG control room, and see how small it looks?
It's hard to really tell the massive size of this thing unless you can see one in person, but we tried to get some good pics. for you to enjoy and get an idea of how the construction goes on this kind of project!
They still have final hook-ups to do as well as grading and roadwork, etc. Thanks; sonny

Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:41 pm
by smigelski
how much do they pay for land rent for 1 of those things. I know the guys that have natural gas wells make out real good

Posted: Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:39 pm
by Mr E
SONNY wrote:if you look real close, you can see a black speck up on top, thats a 6 foot tall man!


You know something, guys, that fellow definitely does NOT have to worry about me trying to take his job !!!!!!!!!!!

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:38 pm
by SONNY
The temps. at the time we took the pics. was a wee bit above zero that day with a stiff wind at ground level!--So picture in your mind what it would be like that high in the air, WIDE open, no hill for windbreak!! --My hats off to all the crew on that project for the good job that they have done so far! thanks; sonny

Posted: Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:43 pm
by beaconlight
I am sure Donny and Ron could tell some antenna tales, high up windy and hot, cold and in between.

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:02 pm
by SONNY
Here is a vid. that Virginia took today when we had to go out to the farm!

Image

The vid. is also in our You-Tube album, so you can watch and enjoy! thanks; sonny

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 8:57 pm
by Bob McCarty
Sonny, A european company just opened a blade plant in Windsor, CO. I met one of the new employees, he said the schedule was to make each one in 18 hours. Right now it is taking them twice that long. Guess I'll have to watch for them on the highway now. 140' blade is hard to miss.

Bob

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 11:37 am
by JBall8019
Sonny,
I must say that this post is very imformative! Did you happen to note the contractors name that actually did the construction and how long it took them to complete the construction? Have you noticed dead birds around the structures since the turbines went online?
John

Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 8:51 pm
by SONNY
I will have to check on the set-up contractor. I know Michaels construction did the electrical, and White construction did the access road work.
The big crane was a rental unit from Ky.
The second 140 turbine section was put up in about 6 months, and only had the one big crane for the whole job(he is a professional turbine contractor!)---the first section took over a year with 6 big cranes,(different contractor!!--his first job!!--and last from what we heard!!)

We didn't see any birds around the turbines, and they are going to use our west one for a check unit about birds. ----one turbine will have 5 strips 10 x 500 feet from the base out and will be kept sprayed to kill all vegetation so they can watch.--they will look once a month for a year.----they will do a total of 12 turbines out of 120 to use as checks.

We heard that an overseas company was looking to build a blade plant in the USA, so they wouldn't have to handle the shipping of them!--They see a big world market for the blades in the future! thanks; sonny

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 8:14 am
by beaconlight
You sign off with Thanks Sonny. It is really us should be thanking you.
I am not concerned with bird kills because we caught a red tail hawk with a house. That said I disagree with the once a month check up for dead birds. scavengers will have dragged many off in that time. It is also true every bird will die someday so the finding of a few should not be great cause for concern.

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:16 am
by Jim Becker
beaconlight wrote:That said I disagree with the once a month check up for dead birds. scavengers will have dragged many off in that time.

You won't get a total count of dead birds with a monthly check. It is probably adequate for getting a seasonal distribution of the effect on birds living in the area. May not tell you anything about effect on migratories that pass through.

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 9:39 am
by John *.?-!.* cub owner
I admittedly am not an ornithologist, but from my experience living in the country I think damage to birds will be minimal. The blades move much slower than an airplane propeller, and are visible. I think the birds will avoid it for the most part, unless there is something done or planted to lure them to the area.

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:17 am
by beaconlight
Jim and John thank you for saying what I was trying to say, better than I can.

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:44 am
by Jim Becker
John *.?-!.* cub owner wrote:The blades move much slower than an airplane propeller, and are visible.

The blades are 125 feet long. If they turn at 30 rpm (a guess but I think that is about the slowest they turn), I calculate the tip speed at 268 mph. That isn't airliner speed, but is pretty fast for somethng that close to the ground.

Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2008 6:53 pm
by SONNY
The blades on these run from 11 rpm up to 22 rpm and yes the blades are of a size that can be seen very easily by everything!--I don't think the bird thing is going to prove/disprove anything, --BUT it will look good on paper!!! LOL!!
We see hawks fly in under the propellers and plop down on a nice big fat rabbit and take off with it and not even get close to the blades so just from watching them I personally would say that they know the blades are there and how close it is safe to get to them!
Geese/ducks/gulls/ and big crane type birds fly much higher than the blades, so no danger to them!----I think the eco's are still trying to stop future turbine construction and will try to say the turbines are the cause of the worlds problems!

I just remembered the name of the set-up contractor and it's Barnhardt Construction.----they are from TN. ----I think Jonson City or Knoxville, somewhere in that area!--They did a very good job and were a pleasure to deal with! All the contractors we met were an ok group! all worked together as a team! Thanks; sonny