Wind turbine tower falls off truck
Published 9:43 am Thursday, September 16, 2010
Bent Tree Wind Farm construction workers start planning how they will right a semi truck that was carrying a tower section of a wind turbine Thursday morning. -- Kelli Lageson/Albert Lea Tribune
MANCHESTER — A section of a Vestas wind turbine tower slipped off the semi that was hauling it early Thursday morning.
The truck was carrying the large tower section on gravel 695th Avenue north of Freeborn County Road 29 near West Freeborn Lutheran Church. It fell off near a turn in the road.
The gravel roads in southern Minnesota were saturated after heavy rains Wednesday night. Albert Lea received more than an inch on Wednesday.
Bent Tree Wind Farm construction workers start planning how they will right a semi truck that was carrying a tower section of a wind turbine Thursday morning. -- Kelli Lageson/Albert Lea Tribune
Fortunately for the construction workers, the ditch along 695th Avenue was shallow compared to most. It is a minimal traffic road.
Trucks have been delivering these large pieces to each site in the Bent Tree Wind Farm since July.
The Freeborn County Sheriff’s Office responded to the incident. The call went out around 7 a.m. Sheriff Mark Harig said as far as he knew there were no injuries or damages reported.
“It’s just blocking the road,” Harig said.
He said as of 8 a.m. a deputy was still near the site performing traffic control.
“They’ll have to get a crane to pick it up and move it where it needs to go,” Harig said.
Calls to Bent Tree Wind Farm officials were not immediately returned before this story went to press Thursday morning.
