Progress continues to be made with the development of Prairie Breeze Wind Farm to be built south of Elgin later this year.
Officials at Invenergy, the Chicago-based corporation who owns the farm, announced that a general contractor has been named.
Alyssa Krinsky, communications director with Invenergy, said Blattner Energy, based out of Avon, Minn., has been selected as the general contractor for the wind farm which is scheduled to begin construction in May 2014. Blattner Energy is an experienced wind farm construction company that has constructed wind farms across the country.
As construction commences, local activity will include delivery of turbine components (e.g., blades, tower sections and nacelles) and construction equipment.
Such traffic will be routed as efficiently as possible, with “overused loads” assisted along the way and relevant signage posted to help with traffic flow.
One thing which may impede traffic to and from the 118 wind turbines which are scheduled to be built will be work being done on Highway 14 between Petersburg and Elgin.
According to Rob Davis, District 3 Construction Engineer with the Nebraska Department of Roads out of Norfolk, resurfacing of Highway 14 between Petersburg and Elgin is scheduled to begin in May or June. The resurfacing will begin at the north edge of Petersburg and end at the south edge of Elgin. The roads project should take two to three months to complete, Davis said Monday.
When asked how the two projects (Highway 14 and the wind farm) will work around each other, Davis said the two (NDOR and Prairie Breeze) have been talking and “We’ll try to make it work.”
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