BLADE RUNNERS
Turbine parts begin journey to Walkamin
BLADE runners of a different kind will start trucking enormous turbine parts to the burgeoning Mount Emerald Wind Farm tomorrow.
There will be no road closures as components including 159 blades, each longer than an Olympic swimming pool, are transported to the 2422ha wind farm site near Walkamin.
The process had been scheduled to begin today but was pushed back by 24 hours.
Treasurer Curtis Pitt said it would be a spectacular sight to behold the 16-tonne blades making the journey.
“Instead of heading north up the winding Kuranda Range, trucks will head south from the newly-constructed project cargo laydown area in Tingira St and use the Palmerston and Kennedy highways to get to Walkamin, before using Hansen and Springmount roads to get to the site,” he said.
“A pilot or escort vehicle will precede or follow the overAustralia sized vehicles and I encourage all motorists to drive safely to the changed road conditions.”
Project developers Ratch- have built 42km of road so the turbines can be delivered to their final home.
A detailed route assessment plan has been agreed upon with the Department of Transport and Main Roads to ensure the loads arrive safely.
A community newsletter issued by the developers this month stated motorists would be able to regularly pass the trucks to limit inconvenience.
The project had already created 300 jobs by the end of September, including workers from 20 local suppliers.
At a meeting with the Mareeba Chamber of Commerce last month, project construction manager Rene Kuypers said the wind farm was “widely regarded as one of the most challenging builds in the renewable industry”.