November 29, 2013
Massachusetts

North turbine down due to “slight” foundation imbalance

ARIEL WITTENBERG | November 29, 2013 | www.southcoasttoday.com

FAIRHAVEN – The north turbine is down for maintenance after a routine inspection found its foundation to be slightly off-level.

Each of Fairhaven’s turbines are secured into the ground with bedrock anchors that stick through three feet of soil and attach to the turbines’ concrete foundations.

Turbine Developer Sumul Shah said the turbine has slightly sunk into that soil area so one side of the foundation is one-fifth of an inch lower than the other.

Though Shah said that mean’s the turbine itself is “slightly tilted,” he characterized the issue as “really insignificant.”

“This is absolutely not a safety issue, or a structural issue or something residents should be worried about,” Shah said. “As the owner of a project we hired a company to build everything perfectly to specifications and we are making sure we get what we paid for.”

Turbines are supposed to settle into soil in their first two years of operation, Shah said. Because of that, there is an inspection protocol to ensure that they are settling evenly. A November inspection using “very sophisticated tools” found the issue with the north turbine and no issues with the south turbine.

The turbine is expected to remain out of operation for another week so that grout used to steady the machine can have time to dry and strengthen.

The maintenance will be covered by the foundation’s warranty, Shah said.

The turbine will be inspected by a special engineer before being turned on again.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/29/north-turbine-down-due-to-slight-foundation-imbalance/