Graham Construction has secured its Des Moines worksite at Mercy College of Health Sciences with Renewablade commercial concrete barriers manufactured using recycled composite material from retired wind turbine blades.
Twenty-eight barriers were installed for the project, and across those 28 barriers, Renewablade incorporated recycled composite equal to one wind-turbine blade into the precast barrier systems.
“Projects like this show that jobsite safety and sustainability can go hand-in-hand,” said Mike Berry, field operations leader. “These Renewablade barriers provide a safe working area for teams on site, next to a very active street on Mercy College’s downtown campus, while also helping repurpose a hard-to-recycle wind-turbine blade into durable infrastructure made for everyday use.”
Wind-turbine blades are massive and have historically been difficult to recycle. Renewablade’s commercial barriers and retaining-wall blocks are designed for jobsite performance while also supporting waste diversion by repurposing end-of-life wind turbine blade material that might otherwise be landfilled. The Mercy College installation marks the second major Renewablade project in the downtown Des Moines area. Premier Credit Union completed a retaining wall built with Renewablade hybrid concrete retaining-wall blocks, using material equal to three retired wind-turbine blades.
Together, these projects demonstrate how circular construction can move from concept to concrete, bringing renewable-energy materials back into the community as durable infrastructure.
More info www.renewablade.com
