Working in rental can have interesting surprises, you never know where you might end up...
7 am- 4 pm-
VERY Long Trailer! And it STEERS!
Those are awesome pictures Carl. Is that the mountain by Palm Springs?That tram ride there is fun!
Reel- Yup
Beautiful photos carlsharp Kerry
Those wind machines are huge! you never know how big they are until you are right next to them.
Thank for sharing. People don't like the looks of wind farms but I find them fascinating. If people say they are ugly, what do they think of the traditional power plants humans create?
Apparently they are building a gas-fired power generation facility in the middle of the windfarm! Got to do with zoning, and, i would think, the infrastructure to tie into the grid is already there. There are six of these foundations being built, look at all that steel! You can see how thick it's gonna be by the shot with the forms partially up. Maybe some concrete guys can comment on the new (to me) trend of pouring a thin slab just to build the forms on.
The slab under the forms is called a mud mat. It is a very lean concrete mix. Typically 1:5:10 ratio. I have not seen it done too often but I am familiar with them.
To add to the mud matt. It is usually poured so you have a level, solid surface to build and anchor your forms to.
What size chunk of concrete to anchor those big wind generators?
Nice pics, Carl. Rode through there on a rented motersickle last week, a BMW R1200 R we rented in San Diego. Windy!. The cross winds were awesome, tough to keep the bike on the road. When we turned south (they call it "East". . . ) coming back from Joshua Tree park, the annoying buffeting off the stubby windscreen totally disappeared--all the noise stopped. I reckon that meant that we had a . . . 65 mph tailwind? !! Missed the tram, but did ride out 74 to the west on the way to Palomar Mtn. A good trip, beautiful country. But good to be back in these Tennessee hills, with our 48" or so annual rainfall!
Older wind turbines? I haven't been the biggest "fan" (haha, ain't I clever!) of the wind turbine craze, partly because of the payola associated with the big-time government tax credits that make it difficult to know if the things are really cost-effective or not. But I like the idea that they are "clean". Amongst a group of anti-mining folks in a public hearing once, I asked about the lifespan of the windturbines--I asked if the installers were required to post a bond to cover the expected full cost of dismantling them and restoring the land to its previous contours (well, maybe not exactly. . .), like they require of mining and other activitiies. The other folks thought I was nuts (look at my picture, you can tell I ain't nuts. . .) But in the Palm Springs area, it looks like there are hundreds of "older" and smaller turbines just sitting there, out of service. I'm guessing they are not cost-effective to maintain, so they are "mothballed". So I rest my case--as expensive as they are to erect, who is going to pay to take 'em down when they are beyond their service life? I don't think any of our genius policy makers have factored that into any of the equation. In 30 years, the US may have hundreds of thousands of inoperable wind turbines scattered all across the nation. When they are producing something, they are purty. Abandoned? Purty ugly. Ain't that right, Willie59? (and you thought I wuz gone. . .).
The foundations are suprisingly small... maybe 75 feet across , 2 foot thick at the bottom... tapering up to maybe 6 foot, the pedestals are 3 foot maybe, about 250 - 300 yard of concrete... evidently the backfill plays an important part to the stability of the tower... Oklahoma wind project...
a photo to cowpare the size
I also heard that they can't run all of the windmills at one time. If they generate too much power they get fined because it takes money away from the oil companies. When I drive through there, maybe only half are working. Carl what type of work are you doing there?
yes that is oklahoma for sure. just look at all of that red gold lieing around. never mind the cow poop.
Reel- details in the "Finish Grading with Skiploaders" thread...
Times are tough when you have to backfill and compact with the use of cattle. I thought it was supposed to use horsepower. LOL
A cows foot compactor.Just a bigger version of a sheeps foot roller.