Bachy Soletanche powers up for wind turbine piling
Specialist geotechnical contractors, Bachy Soletanche, is working on a 10 week £500,000 piling contract for Hanson Contracting to build the foundations for the Hellrigg Wind Farm in a remote location near the Solway Firth between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway.
Due to last 10 weeks in duration, the contract involves the piling for four large wind turbines where four massive piled foundations are required. The piles will be constructed with segmental casing and under a bentonite suspension due to the properties of the soil and the unstable ground. Each base will contain 16 x 900mm diameter piles which vary in depth from 25.0m 38.0m.
Heavy Duty Large Diameter Auger (LDA) rigs are being used to construct the deep piles on this remote site. Due to its location, and the worse than usual weather conditions, access and logistics had to be taken into consideration and health and safety on site is paramount.
Steve Mallinson, Contracts Manager for Bachy Soletanche, said:
“This is one of our more unusual jobs and another big job that takes us up North. The Hellrigg Wind Farm will consist of four 396-foot high wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 10MW and will considerably increase the amount of renewable energy in the North West when work is complete. The site is in a remote location and we are using large piling rigs and cranes and making sure that there’s as little disruption as possible to the surrounding area.”
After six years in the planning, the wind farm was given the go ahead in 2009. Bachy Soletanche commenced its work on 16th February 2011 and completion is due mid May. The wind farm at Hellrigg will make an important contribution to meeting the UK’s renewable energy targets of supplying 15 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2015.