Blades of Diavik Diamond Mines Inc.'s wind farm arriving by ice road
Thandiwe Vela
Northern News Services
Published Tuesday, February 21, 2012
One blade per truck, which will soon make up
A wind turbine by Aurich-based manufacturer Enercon GmbH. Blades of Diavik Diamond Mines Inc.'s wind farm have begun arriving at the mine, located about 300-kilometres northeast of Yellowknife. - photo courtesy of Enercon GmbH
|
With 35-metre-long blades, the shipment of the four wind towers, which will soon be installed at the mine about 300-kilometres northeast of Yellowknife, has so far been an interesting undertaking for the Tibbitt to Contwoyto winter road joint venture, director Ron Near told Yellowknifer.
"The wind power project pieces are large and long and so they're a challenge to move," Near said. "They're very, very sensitive and, if damaged, you just can't replace them."
There was considerable planning prior to the movement of the parts, Near said, which began last week with the successful shipment of the first set of three blades. The shipment took about 20 hours to travel from Yellowknife.
The second set of blades was shipped shortly after midnight on Saturday. Ingraham Trail closed to accommodate the shipment, because surveys found the turning radius of the components put the extremely long blades out into the middle of the road on certain turns.
Shipment of the four 2.3-megawatt capacity wind towers, which will eventually stand about 100-metres tall, is scheduled to be complete by the end of this winter road season.
No comments:
Post a Comment