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Interesting reading about new windpower turbines being shipped by rail. Vestas American Wind takes to the rails#8230; In early 2001 Vestas American Wind Technologies had been investigating different ways of transporting their newest generation of wind plants from the deep water port in Houston to wind farms across North America. The ideal solution would provide a safe, economical and reliable way to move equipment that could weigh as much as 76 metric tons and require clearances of up to 4.5 meters wide and 4 meters tall. After considering various options, Vestas had identified rail as the most economical method to transport their equipment. In addition to the significant price advantages (as little as 20% of truck freight costs), the equipment was simply too large to transport easily by road. The inland waterways were not an option, since they wouldn#8217;t provide the required route flexibility. The transportation of wind generation equipment would pose unique challenges to the North American railroad system. The large nacelles that house generator units would pu***he limits of track clearances for all but select western rail routes. The wind blades on Vestas#8217; 1.8 Megawatt V80 plant run up to 41 meters long, a potential problem when negotiating switching yards and narrow mountain passes. In addition, the equipment is sensitive to shock and vibration, and therefore must be transported at reduced speed and can not pass through hump yards. Furthermore, manufacturers and power companies demand that tight delivery schedules be met. #8220;It can cost $500,000 just to set up the specialized crane for erection of the wind turbine at single job site#8221; said Siggy Sigurdsson, who served as Vestas Transportation Manager at the time, #8220;you need dependable transportation and planning with these numbers on the line#8221;. Vestas approached Burlington Northern Santa Fe#8217;s sales group to discuss their concerns. BNSF had been actively promoting shipments of wide clearance loads, and were confident that their railroad was up to the challenge. Most of their interstate system met clearance standards required by the customer. Furthermore, BNSF had been working hard to improve ride quality on their routes. Ed Isbell, Manager of Sales for Industrial Products at BNSF, recommended that Vestas equip their nacelles with Lat-Lon#8217;s wireless RailRider monitoring units. RailRiders would provide GPS tracking throughout the trip. In addition, RailRiders were equipped with accelerometers, so any mishandling or over-speed impacts would be instantly detected and transmitted to the customer. #8220;I was confident BNSF and our partners would provide the best choice for Vestas#8221; said Isbell, #8220;RailRiders would provide the proof#8221;. Vestas first rail shipment occurred in March of 2002, and went from Houston, TX, USA up to Pincher, AB, Canada. For this critical trip Vestas equipped their nacelle with two RailRiders, #8220;We wanted a positive correlation of any events so using multiple units made sense#8221; said Claus Justesen, Transport Assistant at Vestas, #8220;The entire move was carried out flawlessly. The only impacts the RailRider units recorded were minor, well within the tolerances of our equipment.#8221; Vestas was pleased enough with the results of this test shipment that they are now shipping virtually all of their heavy equipment by rail, and have added Union Pacific as a shipping partner. #8220;RailRider played an important roll helping us to make the commitment to rail transportation#8221;, stated Justesen, #8220;as we move forward developing even larger MW units, we intend to keep using rail transportation, and RailRider#8221;. Siggy Sigurdsson, now with forwarder Translink, Inc, has found that the pioneering work done by Vestas is leading other wind plant manufacturers to consider using rail transportation. He is working with one manufacturer that is interested in shipping wind plants with 65 meter blades. "It's looking good for rail" stated Sigurdsson. From Lat-Lon Newsletter http://www.lat-lon.com/newsletter/newsletter2_2.html
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