57 Metre Blades for Twentyshilling Wind Farm
Our Team complete all wind turbine component deliveries to Twentyshilling Wind Farm, located approximately 4.8km south of Sanquhar, in Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.
Appointed to undertake all planning and deliveries for the 9 Vestas V117 turbines, in June 2021 the Collett Team began transporting the components from King George V Dock. Each of the components for each complete turbine; the three tower sections, three blades, nacelle, drive train and hub, would require specialist transport logistics for the 170 mile journey to site.
With Collett Consulting having already surveyed the route in detail, including undertaking a test drive of the 170 mile journey from the port simulating the loaded blade components, our Team identified several necessary route modifications. Most importantly this highlighted the access to the wind farm site itself.
2 miles from the construction site, on approach to the wind farm, the 57 metre loaded blades would be unable to facilitate the necessary left turn to access. It was proposed that the construction of a turning head at this location would provide the required clearance to allow the all 27 of the blades to safely navigate the turn.
Identifying this pinch point during the test drive allowed for the construction of a turning head at Eliock Bridge ahead of the component deliveries, this would ensure that the vehicles could safely turn around off the main road and complete the right turn on the approach to site.
Working to a two-day delivery schedule, with three deliveries per convoy, Collett called upon their specialist fleet to deliver the 81 individual components.
Utilising our specialist fleet, our Team employed super wing carriers to transport the 57 metre, 14.9 Tonne blades. In addition, the use of these specialist super wing carriers allowed us to overcome issues of the vertical alignment from the main road to Eliock Bridge, avoiding the need for works to be undertaken on the listed structure. For the other components, the 25 metre long bottom and 26 metre middle towers, with weights of 67 and 44.5 Tonnes our Team utilised specialist clamp trailers, whilst the remaining components, the top towers, nacelle, drive trains and hubs were transported using 5 and 6 axle step-frame trailers.
Working to a detailed delivery schedule, produced in line with the site construction needs, over a period of 14 weeks the Collett Team delivered each of the components from King George V Dock to the Dumfries & Galloway construction site. All components travelled under Collett's Code of Practice escort vehicles, with Police escorts in attendance for the blades, tower sections, nacelles and drive trains.
All deliveries to the 38MW Twentyshilling Wind Farm are now complete with the 9 Vestas V117 140 metre tip turbines expected to be fully operational in early 2022.
