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The High Sheldon Wind Farm produces wind energy for the Town of Sheldon in Wyoming County, New York. The project has a maximum electric generating capacity of 129 MW and produces enough clean, renewable energy to power 60,000 homes every year.
The project consists of 75 wind turbines installed predominantly on active agricultural lands occupying two windswept plateaus. With elevations of up to 1800 feet, the two plateaus are exposed to consistent winds from Lake Erie, about 30 miles to the west. Energy from the project is delivered to a 230 kV electric transmission line that passes through the project area.
STRONG PERFORMANCE
The major challenge facing the contractor was the potential rutting caused by the extremely high live loads on the turbine access roads. In order to support loading from equipment of up to 5000 psf, Fornit® 30 geogrids were installed to enhance the subgrade of the access roads on the site. This type of geogrid is designed reinforcement with confinement of finer aggregate. It was an ideal choice for the site.
In addition to dramatically improving the bearing capacity of the subgrade soils through distributing loads over a greater area, the Fornit® series geogrids have apertures that create separation, keeping large base particles from penetrating the softer subgrade soils without losing confinement. Pullout tests have confirmed that interaction with the aggregate is greater than or equal to products with larger apertures.
As a result, the aggregate base course thickness of the access roads was able to be reduced. The lead to significant savings for the project owner, Invenergy.
WIDE ROLLS
The contractor was pleased with the ease of geogrid installation and the greater coverage achieved with through Fornit®’s 17-foot-wide rolls. Roll widths on this scale can add value because these rolls require fewer overlaps than would be with narrower rolls: less waste, maximized material use.
With no sharp edges or roll “memory,” the geogrid installation was smooth and easy.
Also, the Fornit® geogrid’s high aperture stability (0.74 m-N/deg) resulted in less rutting because deformation of the base course was restricted.
PROJECT DETAILS
Location: High Sheldon Wind Farm, Wyoming County, New York
Client: Town of Sheldon
Product: Fornit® 30 biaxial geogrids
This project story comes from Huesker. For more information, visit the company’s website, www.huesker.com.
