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Engineers making progress at Clyde wind farm25th Feb 2016
The construction of site tracks at a 54-turbine wind farm extension in Scotland has passed the halfway point.
An 80-strong workforce is hard at work building access tracks and crane pads at the Clyde Wind Farm extension located between Biggar, Abington and Moffat.
Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK is delivering balance of plant as part of a joint venture with the project’s civil contractor Balfour Beatty on behalf of the client SSE, the UK’s second biggest power generator.
More than 16km of site tracks have now been constructed, including the majority of the site’s main tracks. A total of 32km of track will be needed to allow heavy plant machinery to travel across the site.
Garod Evans, project manager at Jones Bros, said: “Work’s progressing on schedule despite the poor weather we’ve had since Christmas.
“Most of the main site tracks have now been built. Overall, we’re about 55 per cent of the way through all of the tracks that need to be constructed, with a lot of smaller ‘spur’ tracks left to build.
“We’ve completed 27 of the crane pads and constructed 12 of the turbine foundations. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be completing more site tracks and crane pads, ready to contine turbine base construction in the spring.”
Jones Bros will also soon begin recruiting apprentices for the project. There are currently three Scottish plant operative apprentices working on site, as well as a trainee engineer and a number of labourers recruited from the surrounding area.
Investment in the area includes more than £20m of long-term support for community projects from the community benefit fund.
Clyde Extension could contribute as much as £121m to the Scottish economy during the construction phase and is expected, on average, to support around 500 jobs in Scotland through supply chain contracts.
Founded in the 1950s and employing 350 people, Jones Bros has grown significantly in the last decade. It is currently working on contracts including the construction of waste management facilities, highways, flood and marine defence, and renewable energy projects around the UK.