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A few years ago I had the great pleasure of working at the Maple Ridge Wind Turbine Project for some Wind Power Companies that have a Joint Venture operation.

I was employed by an area Crane company to work as a Safety Inspector monitoring the setup and operation of the crane as well as OSHA safety monitoring of the contractor’s employees while working on a site-wide blade modification and repair project.

Dawn at Maple Ridge Wind Farm

The Maple Ridge Wind Power Companies Project consists of 195 wind turbines on the Tug Hill Plateau of Lewis County, just west of Lowville, New York. Each of these wind turbines generate 1.65 MW of electrical power and consist of a 262 foot tall tubular steel tower; with a 269 foot diameter rotor; and a nacelle (turbine housing) which contains the generator, the transformer, and power train. The towers have a base diameter of approximately 15 feet and a top diameter of 8 feet.

The tower is topped by the nacelle, which is approximately 9 feet high and 25 feet long, and connects with the rotor hub. The rotor consists of three 134-foot long composite blades. With a rotor blade oriented in the 12 o’clock position, each turbine has a maximum height of approximately 400 feet.

Crane Setup

This blade modification project was engineered to create tiny little differences in the way the air turbulence around the blades was changed just enough to smooth out some vibration, thereby increasing efficiency.

Crane Extended Horizontal at Ground Level

Two workers would go into the basket at ground level with all of their tools and an electrical power supply. The blade would be rotated into position from ground controls and then locked in place by a worker inside the nacelle.

Going Up !

Crane Extended to Blade Tip

Crane Extended Side View

A combination of radio communications and hand signals kept the workers in constant contact with the crane operator and ground safety personnel.

About the Tug Hill Plateau:
Tug Hill is in many respects the ideal location for New York’s largest wind energy project. This site consists of approximately 12,000 acres of hilltop pasture and feed-crop land at an average elevation of 1600-1800 feet. Tug Hill is an ancient geologic formation that lies just downwind of the eastern shore of Lake Ontario, separated from the Adirondacks to the east by the Black River Valley. At a maximum elevation of 2000 feet above sea level, the Tug Hill plateau experiences strong lake-effect weather patterns and has long been known for its exceptional wind resource

From the Top

Maple Ridge

Workers Up

Turbine Information:
Modern wind turbine generators are robust, sophisticated high-tech machines designed to convert the power of the wind into electricity.
Main Components: The tower, the nacelle (machine house atop the tower), and the rotor
Height of Flat Rock Wind Turbine Towers: 260 feet
Rotor Blade Length: 130 feet
Rotor Blade Speed: 14 RPM (revolutions per minute)

One of the tasks for this project was to raise two workers up in a man basket to reach to tip of the blade, and then an area was sanded and special anti-vibration strips of airfoil plastic were attached with special adhesives. Each of the 565 blades were modified as well as other field service repairs during this project.

Detail of Strip

Note the man in the distance up on top of the neighboring nacelle.

Looking Down

Note that one of those heavy duty service trucks would easily fit inside one of the nacelles on top of the tower. All of the photographs from the ground were taken by me as well as several of the ones from up on top were taken by me. It was not my job to go up, but who could resist such a fabulous opportunity in life? Better than any amusement park ride and I am glad I did it.

How Electricity Leaves the Turbine, Bringing Us Wind Power for Homes:
Electricity from each 1.65 MW wind turbine generator is fed through numerous 34.5-kilovolt power underground cables that come together at the wind farm substation near Rector Road. These cables channel the electricity via a step-up transformer and dedicated ten-mile power line into the New York electricity grid at the 230-kilovolt Niagara Mohawk Adirondack line, feeding power to towns and cities across New York’s North Country and beyond. Sophisticated computer control systems run constantly to ensure that the machines are operating efficiently and safely.

Pollution Offset:
The American Wind Energy Association estimates that 1 MW of wind generation capacity is the equivalent of 1 square mile of new forest, in terms of offsetting or displacing carbon dioxide from conventional generating sources. This makes the Maple Ridge Wind Farm Project equal to approximately 321 square miles of forest CO2 displacement. The many Wind Power Companies in the North East are truly helping to bring us Wind Power for Homes.

When you consider that an average household power use in 24 hours is about 2 kilowatts, this wind farm is equivalent to powering 160,000 homes. I like to think of it in this way, every time those blades are turning around, we are that much less dependent upon foreign oil price gouging.

Power Distribution to the People:
To the large amount of people that protest the power distribution of these type projects, I say, suck it up. It is for the greater good. Power lines running through or near your property are just a fact of life. Get over it. We need every type of alternate energy that we are able to harness. Do your part.

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