Using its Nooteboom triple extendable Super Wing Carriers, Collett recently delivered 78 turbine blades (26 turbines in total) destined for Kype Muir Wind Farm.
Collett’s teams undertook the planning and delivery of 494 components including blades, towers, nacelles, drive trains, and hubs required for the development of Kype Muir Wind Farm. The 80-meter hub height towers of the Senvion 3.4MW turbines feature 52-meter blades, and while these are not the largest the company has been appointed to handle, they necessitated the use of its Super Wing Carriers due to the problematic road restrictions and alignments en-route.
Several areas of route modifications were identified ahead of the project — including bridge restrictions — with an emphasis on the Lambhill Road and Brown’s Bridge areas on approach to the site. Excluding the loaded wind-turbine blades, each of the components would be loaded to a combination of 3-, 4-, 5-, and 6-axle stepframes, modular low loaders, and clamp trailers for transportation to the site. With the planned route modifications — including removal of vegetation, road signs, and road widening — already having been completed, this did not pose challenge to navigate.
The challenge arose when it came to the transportation of the 52-meter blades, which is where Collett’s Super Wing Carriers came into effect. The use of these specialist trailers provided the ability to shorten the body and wheelbase of the trailer while loaded with the use of the bolster arrangement on the trailer deck. Using the features of these Super Wing Carriers, extendable up to 64.3 meters, meant that the proposed access route to the development site became a viable option for this size of turbine.
Proof of this flexibility was demonstrated prior to transport by Collett Consulting creating a 3D model of the loaded vehicle. This then allowed Collett to produce a detailed swept-path analysis video of the blade components, successfully negotiating restricted route sections by manipulating the trailer while loaded.
This in-depth planning allowed Collett to highlight the sections of the route where the steering angle of the Super Wing Carrier’s bogie provided extra maneuverability. The challenge was to ensure there would be no contact with any part of the blade or the trailer chassis with the road surface, bridge structures, or buildings when navigating several sections of the route. This is where capabilities of the Super Wing Carriers to raise the trailer height came into action, allowing Collett to raise the height of both the front and the rear of the trailer, resulting in each of the blades oversailing the embankments and stone parapets when crossing the bridges en-route. By employing the capabilities of these trailers, Collett was able to remove the need for further, more costly modifications, and ensure that each of the 78 52-meter blades would safely arrive.
The 18-week delivery schedule that began in July is now complete. Following an agreed timetable of 1.5 turbines per week, Collett systematically transported each of the 494 cargoes from their portside location direct to the delivery site. Working on a multi-port strategy with components arriving at the Port of Grangemouth and King George V Dock, the Collett team has undertaken all ship’s discharge and stevedoring duties, port storage, extensive planning and delivery for each complete turbine.
Deliveries to the site, three miles south of Strathaven, South Lanarkshire, are now completed and construction of the wind farm is underway. Kype Muir Wind Farm is the flagship development of Banks Renewables and is expected to be fully operational in early 2019.
More info www.collett.co.uk
