not your average jobsite

[Mullet Man]

one crane had got onto soft ground and weight shifted, folded the boom. no pics of it tho

 

crane setting the rotors

 

rotor assembled and on the ground, check out the tiny little pickup next to it

 

rotors arriving at the jobsite

 

the center piece to the rotors

 

what it looks like with out the rotor installed yet

Edited December 27, 2006 by Mullet Man

[kaotik1]

Damn they dwarf teh powerlines haha. Pretty neat!

[CombatTalon2]

cool, how about some stats? Whast the Dia. of those blades? how tall, how much power output? I know there are a bunch of those in Cali on I-10. They are huge!

[Mullet Man]

from what i was told, the blades are ~180ft across, the tower itself is ~290ft tall, and with rotors they are close to 380ft tall

 

i'm not sure of power output but i think they are subtransmission under 140Kv

 

i'm just out there installing fiber optic cable from tower to tower.

 

tomorrow, i should have some pics standing directly underneath them. wicked looking up at'em

Edited December 27, 2006 by Mullet Man

[racer]

every time i drive to D/FW i pass the plant where they toros like those. they are crazy huge.

[locogato11283]

man ive been seeing a lot of those blades go buy down here in missouri. they are rollin across 36 highway east. im assuming to illinois and iowa?? i bet ive seen 10 of those things in the last couple months. the trailers they are hauled on are fuckin ridiculous and ive seen the DOT here red flag a couple of them..not sure why tho. but i live about 1/2 mile from 36 highway and drive it everyday so ive seen a bunch of them..

[STLBILL]

Where is this? I thought the plans to build that wind farm in East-Central Illinois were scrapped. McLean County, I think? Something about military radar being ruined by them?

 

I've been to the lonely one in Pittsfield though. It is first rate! With it's light beacon flashing it resembles something ethereal as you approach on the winding two-lane from Louisiana, Missouri.

 

There is a smaller one near I-170 and Page Avenue (I think) in St. Louis too. With all the wind-turbulence from buildings and such that seemed like a very odd place to put one, but it seems to spin often.

[STLBILL]

cool, how about some stats? Whast the Dia. of those blades? how tall, how much power output? I know there are a bunch of those in Cali on I-10. They are huge!

 

Here is about the one in Pittsfield, Illinois:

 

http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/success/il-success.htm

 

This might give a statewide view:

 

http://www.awea.org/projects/illinois.html

 

I'll see what else I can find...

 

Who is going to be the first to jump a Banshee through the blades?

[Mullet Man]

Where is this? I thought the plans to build that wind farm in East-Central Illinois were scrapped. McLean County, I think? Something about military radar being ruined by them?

 

I've been to the lonely one in Pittsfield though. It is first rate! With it's light beacon flashing it resembles something ethereal as you approach on the winding two-lane from Louisiana, Missouri.

 

There is a smaller one near I-170 and Page Avenue (I think) in St. Louis too. With all the wind-turbulence from buildings and such that seemed like a very odd place to put one, but it seems to spin often.

 

this farm was the 1st in IL. there was originally about 40 or so towers, now about another 30-40 in addition.

its about 42 miles south of Rockford IL, on I39.

 

i tried to get on at that windfarm just East of Bloomington IL (one you mentioned) with Henkels and McCoy, outfit i used to work for. i didnt know they scrapped that one entirely. i did hear they were having alot of problems with getting it going tho.

 

there is alos a large farm of these being put up in OK right now as well, also by the same company i am with on this one

Edited December 27, 2006 by Mullet Man

[Mullet Man]

This might give a statewide view:

 

http://www.awea.org/projects/illinois.html

 

 

the one listed in that link under GSG Windfarm Phase1, is where i am at right now (where the pics are from)

[STLBILL]

I think the wind farms are neat, but some people are adamantly opposed to the entire concept. Everyone seems to want unlimited energy, but nobody wants to make the slightest concession to achieve that goal.

 

What are you doing with fiber at a wind farm? You cannot send electricity over it, so it must be a control or monitoring system of some sort, eh? I did read about some research to send electricity without wires (not arcing). Maybe you're doing top secret research for them...

[RIPPEN]

There are TONS AND TONS of those out here.. BigRed can confirm the ones right of I-80 about half way across Wyoming and then there is also a bunch more close to the Co/Wy boarder.. Also in that same area they are doing a bunch more just a bit south i belive.. Have a buddy that drives truck and he just had to make a wire delivery there a couple weeks ago.. Those things are sick.. When we were passing the ones on I-80 we were talking about how fast we thought the blades were moving.. They look like they are going slow but I think it just looks like that cuz they are so big.. Any of you know the max speed on the blades?

 

RIPPEN

[broke]

i tried to get on at that windfarm just East of Bloomington IL (one you mentioned) with Henkels and McCoy, outfit i used to work for.

 

You don't want to work for "Crinkle and Destroy" :cool: . They are a contractor we use alot at work. Do you know who owns that wind farm? I work for ComEd as a directional borer and have not heard of these so I would suspect they aren't ours.

[bigdaddy69]

I think max speed on those things is about 7 mph, no matter how hard the wind blows it never gets over 7....dont know if thats true but thats what ive heard. Theres a pretty big wind farm close to me, near Pampa, TX and then theres a bunch more down soth where I 40 croses the Texas New Mexico border. I want to know what each one of those things costs, im sure its around 3 mil a piece...

[STLBILL]

....Any of you know the max speed on the blades?

They are designed to shut off at 55 mph of wind speed. A lot of unknown and variable factors determine how fast the blades would be turning at that point. This Department of Energy article explains how they work.

 

Do you know who owns that wind farm?

Which turbine site are you referring to?

 

I think max speed on those things is about 7 mph, no matter how hard the wind blows it never gets over 7....dont know if thats true but thats what ive heard. Theres a pretty big wind farm close to me, near Pampa, TX and then theres a bunch more down soth where I 40 croses the Texas New Mexico border. I want to know what each one of those things costs, im sure its around 3 mil a piece...

I posted a previous link to an article about the construction of the one in Pittsfield, Illinois. It cites construction of the 1.65 MW turbine as a $1.89 million project. It is not immediately clear how this total was derived, but I suspect it is a total cost. Were you seeking wholesale or retail cost?

 

If you want to know how that adds up take a look at the Midwest ISO site. It claims to show realtime electricity load of the Midwestern United States. You may also be able to glean the current price of a MW/H on the open market for comparison purposes.

 

Oh, I don't think they allow wind turbines in place of flags on your Banshee at the dunes, but I like how you think. :thumbsup: :biggrin: