Platform made of composite row sheets 'floats' on farmland

In the Oostpolder, an agricultural area south of Eemshaven, the finishing touches are being put on Oostpolder Wind Farm. The 21 wind turbines are being assembled in the middle of the farmlands on two pre-construction sites. The two 'platforms', each 100 meters square, are realized with composite driving plates from Ferex. A durable and safe alternative to steel road plates that also leaves the soil intact.

The new wind farm will soon consist of Enercon type wind turbines. "These wind turbines are constructed modularly on site with a climbing crane," explains Kees Wolbers, account manager at Ferex. "A major advantage of this construction method is that no special transportation is required to transport the parts. It does mean that a pre-construction site (two in this case) must be set up on site to assemble the parts. This is where the application of Ferex came around the corner."

No tillage

The wind turbines and thus the two pre-construction sites will be built on agricultural land. "The farmers did not accept that foreign soil would be disturbed for the construction of the temporary pre-construction sites," Wolbers knows. "Unlike with steel road plates or dragline bulkheads, when composite road plates are used, no tillage is necessary beforehand. We can lay the plates directly on any type of surface, without first having to excavate soil and provide it with a rubble course. In addition, our composite roadway plates form an extremely stable platform because they are connected to each other on four sides with a lip weld. This keeps the platform intact even when maneuvering with heavy equipment and distributes the loads over a larger area. On the platforms of each 100 by 100 meters there is a 250-ton crane and a 125-ton crane to assemble the parts of the wind turbines. So with our slabs, a complete floor is created including a safe 'safety net' under the crane."

In this project, the use of our composite driving plates cuts logistical movements in half, Wolbers says. "Especially because the soil does not have to be stirred. The large format of 4 by 2 meters also ensures that we can realize large surfaces in a short time. In this project, a total of 3,000 composite driving plates were used for both platforms. After completion of the wind farm, the plates are removed and the farmers can immediately get back to work on the land. It is also great for us as Ferex to see that we can achieve significant savings in CO2 emissions with our products during the construction of a basically sustainable project."

The 21 wind turbines in Oostpolder Wind Farm will soon provide enough capacity to power 50,000 households annually.