Glacier Hills Wind Park
Construction Management, GIS, Natural Resources, Power & Energy, Site Design, Survey | Wisconsin | Back
Challenge
This We Energies project includes 90 wind turbines situated throughout a 7,500-acre site in the towns of Randolph and Scott in Columbia County, Wisconsin.
This is the largest wind project in Wisconsin history, generating 162 megawatts of electricity. That is enough to power approximately 45,000 homes!
For this design-build project, Kapur provided design as well as support during construction in conjunction with Edgerton Contractors, Boldt Construction, and Michels Corporation.
Based on our performance on a previous wind farm, Kapur was invited to take part in this fast-tracked project. The challenge was to quickly establish workable profiles for the semi-trucks carrying the massive wind generator components for a previous project.
Solution
These profiles were converted into full 3D roadway models for contractors to use during the 3D automated machine controlled grading operation. This stakeless construction technique enables contractors to quickly grade roadways and construction sites.
We also conducted the hydraulic and hydrological analysis for each of the 90 turbine installation sites to minimize washouts and erosion associated with construction.
The final phase of design and construction included permanent improvements to surrounding roads and intersections to accommodate the turbine delivery vehicles.
Services Provided
- Surveying
- Site design
- Access road layout geometrics
- Retro-fit county & township roads for increased turning radii
- Mass grading
- Crane pad design
- Yard design
- Erosion control plans
- Stormwater management
- Storm sewer design
- Pond design
- Utility layout
- Parking lot layout
- Erosion control & best management practices
- Soil evaluation
- Hydraulic & hydrological analysis
- 3D modeling
- GIS mapping/project website
- As-builting
Industries Covered
- Survey
- Power & Energy
- Site Design
- Construction Management
- GIS
- Natural Resources
Results
Glacier Hills Wind Park was an enormous success. The project was built safely and without any serious injuries.
Landowners, primarily farmers, saw minimal impacts on their land. This was due to coordinated efforts to build access roads that used existing field entrances, implement paths, and fence lines as much as possible.
Following construction, farmers replanted crops to the edges of the access roads and pads, restoring the maximum amount of farmable land.
