Wind Generator - Boring the Shaft

Around 5:30 pm Aug 17th, three Cheyenne Wind vehicles pulled up our street. They were an SUV, the utility truck an trailer that was here previously to build the Cage, and a huge straight truck with a crane on it. It had a gigantuous bit on it that would be used to put the hole in the ground that will become the foundation for the wind generator.

They had bored two shafts that afternoon and had brought their equipment here for the evening and the three men said they would be back first thing in the morning.

Around 8:30 am Aug 18th, activities commenced. Luckily both Al and I were both here to observe this monumental moment! Al, being the photobug of the two us was snapping pictures like crazy. 315 photos later, the rigs were heading off to our friends' place who are also getting a generator and next on the list to get the shaft bored.

Here are a few facts about the foundation for the wind generator on its 45 foot pole:

• The shaft is 24 inches in diameter at the smallest point.
• The shaft is 16 feet deep.
• The cage, being 16'6" sticks out of the hole approximately 6 inches.
• It is required that a minimum of 6 inches of concrete is above ground and the part above ground is 3 feet in diameter.
• It is estimated that it will take 4 to 5 yards of concrete to fill the void of the foundation.
• The bolts for the pole that are placed in the base are L-shaped and approximately 2 feet on the long side and 6 inches on the short side. (One of the pictures shows them laying in the rear of the utility truck on top of copper grounding rods.)
• The concrete base will have to cure for 3+ weeks.

Next steps:

• The trench from my pole to the shaft will be dug.
• The concrete will be poured.
• The electrical work (new net meter, new electrical main on the pole and cables the will be put in place but left disconnected from the existing meter.
• The trench will be covered.

Photos will be in Part II of this Chapter.

==End of Chapter==