Wind turbine blades hold up town traffic

MOTORISTS making their way through Wick faced a delay as an extra-long convoy of trucks set out for Bad a' Cheo wind farm on the Causewaymire.

Three giant blades each measuring 45 metres were driven up from Wick harbour by lorries from Campbeltown-based McFadyens with an escort of the company's support vehicles. Because of the sharp turn from River Street up the Cliff Road the lorries are required to reverse all the way up from Wick harbour after the blades are loaded on their trailers by crane. They then negotiate the turn up the Cliff from River Street and can proceed as normal.

All possible obstacles are temporarily repositioned and in the case of River Street this means folding over a hinged lamp-post so the blade tip doesn't hit it as the lorry turns.

The three McFadyens trucks were monitored by the company's support vehicles and road policing officers.

The Senvion MM92 turbine comes in eight pieces that the haulage company conveys to the site in convoys that never go beyond three lorries.

Bad a' Cheo wind farm, which began construction in March 2017, will feature 13 of these 2.05MW turbines with a tip height of 112 metres.