February 8, 2013
England

Big turbine trucks force road closures

The Garstang Courier | 7 February 2013 | www.garstangcourier.co.uk

Monster-sized trucks feeding the Eagland Hill wind turbine site have been making life a misery, say Nateby residents.

Hedges have been removed and corners cut at three sites to enable the winding, narrow country road to be widened to accommodate the trucks which will carry parts of the giant turbines.

And the most recent manoeuvres involved a trial to see if a lorry which would carry large parts of the two giant turbines would fit round corners in the narrow lanes.

This meant the closure for several hours of parts of Longmoor Lane, Cartmell Lane, Skitham Lane and Woods Lane.

One resident on the route took a picture of the lorry lumbering past her home.

“The road had to be closed and hedges have had to be removed in some places to allow the lorries to get round the sharp corners,” she said.

Another added: “There are three places where hedges have been cut to widen the road.

“When these parts are delivered it will take several trips, which means road closures at great inconvenience to the people who live here.

“It has been bad enough with lorries up and down delivering materials, but now we will have to have the road completely closed while these bigger parts are delivered by these monsters.

“I hope the hedges will be replaced, but at the end of the day, the farmers have sold land to allow the company to do this.”

Plans for the massive ‘twin tower’ wind turbines on Pilling moss faced a series of post-appeal legal challenges from the Eagland Hill Action Group which has now disbanded.

The turbines are expected to built in the coming weeks and become operational this spring.

Each tower will arrive in three sections, with the blades being delivered separately.

A spokesman for REG Windpower said: “There will be 14 abnormal loads taken to the site. We will be replacing all the hedges which have been removed.”

On the progress of the work, the spokesman said: “Erecting the turbines is very much dependent on the weather so it is impossible to forecast with any precision.Work on the wind farm site is progressing well and we anticipate turbines arriving this winter with the first generation of safe, clean renewable electricity expected in the spring.

“We will do our utmost to minimise disruption and keep people informed throughout the whole process.

“When we are allowed to close the roads is up to Lancashire County Council, but we regularly update details on our website orchardendwindfarm.co.uk, and have leafleted people in the area.”

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/02/08/big-turbine-trucks-force-road-closures/