Wind and solar power plants are typically constructed in remote, hard to access locations which require road construction.  Blasting is a far more cost effective and reliable method of rock excavation for these types of projects.  An access road to a wind turbine or solar site can take months to construct, but blasting can reduce road construction time to a few weeks instead.

Wind turbine generators are constructed on large bases buried deep in the ground for stability. A typical foundation for a large wind turbine generator is about 80 feet in diameter and 10 to 12 feet deep.  Where a single foundation could take weeks to excavate, multiple foundations can be blasted and excavated every day on most projects.

For this project we first blasted away rock to create a roadway that would allow us to access the location where the windmill tower’s spread footing foundation would be located. Rock was blasted and moved off by bulldozers so that we could drill and blast the foundation. The challenging location and material that had to be excavated presented a perfect opportunity to develop new skills for our drillers.