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Wind Turbine Access

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Wind Turbine Access: Hackberry

Albany, TX 

Turbine: Siemens 2.3MW 

Contractor: Lankford Company Inc. 

Project Scope

Access for blade inspection and repair work for Siemens 2.3 MW turbines.

Challenges

  • 360 degree access needed to perform repairs at multiple locations on the blade surface. 
  • Extremely hot site conditions for uptower rigging and installation work required more active health monitoring.
  • Limited time schedule for the work.

Solution

  • Spider provided a 5 x 10 ft (1.5 x 3 m) configured 360 Blade Access Platform (BAP) with independent lifeline.
  • With Spider’s expertise in safety, rigging and training, Lankford Company was able to bring in the 360 BAP closer, adjust to the larger blade tip using a manual winch, and easily access the blade repair area.
  • With the 360 BAP assembled on the ground, workers engaged the blade tip in less than 8 minutes to start the work.
  • Storage buckets positioned the workers’ tools at waist height for added productivity.
  • With both a primary and secondary suspension wire rope to each hoist, the workers were able to attach their fall protection lanyards directly to the engineered PFAS safety anchor device on the walk-thru stirrup. This point is also engineered for use with a descent device, if users choose not to use the hoists’ no-power controlled descent system.
  • Compared to other equipment options, the Lankford crew was able to get working very quickly.
  • Siemens recognized this platform system in its national newsletter for ingenuity in wind farm maintenance.
360° Blade Access Platform
Hackberry Wind Turbine

Related Products

  • 360° Blade Access Platform