Location, Location, Location
The Pillar Mountain Wind Farm Poses Unique Challenges for Construction Crews
Pam Stask — Jul 07, 2009
T
Nestled in the Pacific Ocean, the island presented access issues, as well as unpredictable weather conditions for crews. Contracted by the Kodiak Electric Association, the wind farm included the erection of three 1.5-megawatt GE turbines to assist the island in meeting its demanding energy goals.
“The utility is powered mainly by diesel generators and spent an extensive amount of money powering the island last year,” says Taylor Gosman, project manager for Energy Transportation, the tower erector for the project. “There was quite an appreciation from the community who recognized that installing these components would better their community and ultimately lower the cost of their electricity.”
Construction of the wind farm began last year as crews poured foundations and civil work was completed. Then in early April 2009, Energy Transportation began shipping its equipment into Kodiak via a Seattle port. The company shipped around 2 million lbs of equipment on three barges — a feat that did not come without complications.
“One obstacle of the project was the logistics behind getting our equipment to and from the island,” says Gosman. “Transporting our equipment from Casper, Wyo., to Seattle, contracting with a barge company, then finishing construction on time to meet the south bound barge was key to completing the project under budget.”
Energy Transportation sent over and used a variety of specialized equipment for the project including a Manitowoc 16000 crawler crane (which served as the main erection crane); a Grove 9000E (assist crane); two telehandlers; and an IT 38G loader. The company also had a tool trailer that was custom built for use on wind farm projects. This structure served as storage, as well as a space for meetings with the contractor and daily safety trainings. Rigging, generators, hand tools, three tractors and four trailers rounded out the equipment lineup. The turbines and components arrived on June 2, ready for erection. However, the Energy Transportation crew had to address some challenges that the jobsite presented. Gosman notes that the weather conditions were perhaps the biggest roadblock in the work schedule.
“The town of Kodiak is right on the ocean, so we had a full spectrum of weather concerns,” explains Gosman. “We had beautiful days when the sun was shining and the winds were down to periods of wind, rain and fog. Some days the fog would roll in so thick that we couldn’t see half way up the boom of the crane. We spent a lot of time hooked to components waiting to take advantage of any windows the weather would allow.”
The layout of the jobsite and public access also caused some unique issues. Since the construction site was located at the top of a hill, there were very few flat spots to build and set equipment on. The space limited the amount of equipment and personnel Energy Transportation could bring onto the island, so crewmembers had to perform a variety of tasks. The company brought over one crew of 17 people, which included its management team.
“Everyone participated in every aspect of the project,” says Gosman. “For example, as the project manager and I did everything from washing tower components to flagging the cranes to maintaining the timesheets and invoices for the project.”
In addition, the site was open to the public because the Kodiak Electric Association is a co-op — splitting interest and ownership of the electricity among the public. Gosman mentions that his crews had to keep the constant stream of onlookers at a safe distance from equipment and components while educating the locals on the project and answering their questions. Energy Transportation finished erecting the turbines on June 16 and mechanical completion of the towers took place on June 20. The company had zero punchlist items on the walk down with the vendor and owner — an accomplishment it is extremely proud of. “We had an amazing crew that put in a lot of hours to finish this project on time, under budget and deliver the highest quality workmanship the customer could ask for,” says Gosman.
The location and scope of the project posed many challenges along the way, but Energy Transportation was excited to be a part of it. Through the completion of the Pillar Mountain Wind Farm, Kodiak Electric moves closer to its vision of producing 95 percent of the island’s electrical needs from renewable resources.
Pam Stask is assistant editor of Alternative Power Construction.
