Challenges are not what we think they are
Advantages happen and come to us
What we never thought we could ever do
Become what we do every day

And what we thought of ourselves changes
Because tomorrow
We are not who we were the day before
And it becomes us...

We are what we are doing
And have done.
And yet also
Who we were

Funny about that

 

We took delivery on the last three blades today, so everything you see going down the road is going somewhere else. All the parts that we need are on the ground. Now, to assemble and erect them!! God I love my job!!

 

You could always be a part of the cleaning crew!!

 

Hey,I have a couple of questions for you bunny,,,,First,How am I supposed to whisper in your ear if your head is up in the clouds? Ok seriously,What is the base of these turbines?I mean the size of it,I know it is concrete,Im just curious how deeply it goes in the ground,and what keeps the base from loosening from the constant movement from the wind?


Hmmm,I think I need one of those lawn chairs with a zillion balloons tied to it!Of course with my luck,I would probably get pushed into the prop by the wind.

 

The ground is compacted first, then the foundation is poured. It is 53 feet across and over 9 feet high at the center. It has 26 tons of re-bar intertwined throughout the 340 cubic yards of concrete. The 120 connection bolts for the base are 13 feet long. Then they cover the foundation with dirt to make it pretty!! This is all you see when they are done.

 

WOW! And double WOW WOW!

 

I am kinda suprised only 9ft at the center, most larger signs I have seen for stores and gas stations etc have a conrete section 6-8ft deep

 

They build a 2-3 foot riser in the very center for the connection bolts, but the main part is just over 9 feet high. I guess it's the 53 feet across that creates the stability.

 

This is really cool stuff Snowbunny - where did you go to school for this and what was the course of study?

 

I go to a small community college in The Dalles, Oregon. They have the only Renewable Energy Technician (RET) program on the west coast, and it is geared specifically for wind energy. We even have our own turbine to work on. There is one other school in New Mexico or Arizona that offers something similar, but they concentrate mainly on theory. We had over 300 applicants for the program and they only had room to let in 34.

But, becasue the demand is so high for technicians, and getting higher, more schools should be offering the program soon, I would think. I know that there are a few schools in the mid-west and east coat that offer the program.

We are pretty fortunate because we live so close to the wind farms and can get OJT. In class we study electricity, hydraulics, gear boxes, physics, computer programming, pre calc, trig, electrical motor controls, programmable controlers, blah, blah, blah,,, the list goes on.

The beauty of the industry is that you do not have to go to school to get the jobs. If you already have a background in electronics, can read a set of schematics, then they (the big companies) will send you to paid specilaized training for a few weeks and voila' you have a job. Most of the trainings that GE sends you to are in Texas or New York. So, you make 20 something an hour instead of 30 something an hour becuase you don't have the certificate,,,

If you have cahonies enough to climb the things and can work up there, they are more than willing to train people within the company. I like working with my hands, I like working outside and it's one heck of a workout!!

 

Yeah, I was wondering how those people got up on top of there in the first place - the ones rapelling down it to clean the mast.

 

It involves a trampoline and the doublemint twins...

 

Are those mints?

Rats, I was hoping they were muffins....
(He states, innocently)

 

They get up there like everybody else, they climb a ladder!! You can kinda see it here,,, you climb with the tower wall to your back. It's pretty cool because when you get tired, you can wedge yourself between the ladder and the wall and rest. The black dots you see at the end of the the ladder brackets, are magnets. Yes, I said magnets!! The ladder, the platforms and anything else they put in there are connected to the tower walls with magnets!! Don't want to compromise the integrity of the steel by drilling or welding!!

 

With all the pictures, this thread is getting funner all the time. Keep 'em coming' ms bunny. I haven't been this interested in something for a long time.