Logistical Problems In Wind Turbine Construction

Weather conditions

There are several factors that pose logistical problems to this project. Some of these factors are location of the site, different stakeholders involved in the project and the type (size and shape) of wind turbine components that have to be transported from the fabricator or company depot to the site. Logistics is an essential element of supply chain management in the construction industry (Ying, Tookey, & Roberti, 2014). It entails flow of resources, including materials, finance, information and services between the contractor and other stakeholders.

Logistical problems have significant impact on project delivery because they affect movement of resources from one stakeholder to another (Janne, 2018); (Ying, Tookey, & Roberti, 2015). The logistical problems evaluated in this report include weather factors, environmental, sustainability, socio-cultural and risk assessment. Some of the logistical problems that may affect this project include the following:

1.1.            Weather conditions

From the rainfall data provided in Table 1 below, the region receives some rainfall every month. The project is scheduled to be undertaken from August 2018 to December 2018 when rainfall in the area is mostly above average. This weather conditions may affect transportation of materials from the depot in Coopers Plains to the site in North Stradbroke Island and also ongoing construction activities on site. This problem can be resolved by planning to transport the materials during hours when it is less likely to rain, covering the materials properly so that they are not damaged when rained on and also ensuring that workers wear appropriate personnel protective equipment that protects them from rain.

Table 1: Rainfall Data

Month	Months Average days that rainfall > 2.0mm	Average monthly rainfall (mm)
January	4.6	50.1
February	3.3	49.0
March	4.5	47.2
April	5.9	63.9
May	8.4	73.2
June	8.6	73.1
July	9.0	69.6
August	9.3	76.5
September	8.7	76.9
October	8.5	82.8
November	5.7	59.2
December	5.3	61.4

Environmental problems

Construction activities may be affected by disagreement or misunderstanding of various stakeholders involved on the best methods to use for minimizing waste, recycling and reusing waste, disposing waste, reducing air, noise, vibration and water pollution, etc. The materials and methods of construction will also be selected by considering their environmental impacts. There are natural flora and fauna, and a state owned park in the region that have to be monitored strictly to avoid destruction. This problem will be overcome by developing and adopting a comprehensive environmental plan that is aimed at minimizing the impacts of the project on the environment.

Source of materials

Construction of the access road may require sourcing materials locally to minimize transportation delays, pollution and costs. The site is located on an island and some materials may not be available. As such, the company will be forced either to buy materials from nearby sources at high prices or order them from far and experience possible transportation problems.

Source of materials

Socio-cultural factors

These factors include variables such as language, attitude of local communities, educational levels, lifestyles, values and norms, etc. Construction projects involve stakeholder with varied levels of knowledge and skills. Some of the stakeholders such as interest groups, local community and the general public may not have any technical knowledge about the problem and therefore it takes time to explain to them about some technical elements of the project. One strategy of resolving these problems is ensuring that project managers and supervisors develop and adopt appropriate management and leadership styles (Engobo, 2009). This will help in ensuring that all stakeholders are handled based on their “special” needs so as to avoid or minimize conflicts and disputes.

Traffic congestion

This is a logistical problem that cannot be avoided. The materials will mainly be transported on city roads and ferry where the likelihood of traffic congestion is high due to the large urban population (Radziszewska-Zielina & Kania, 2017). Considering the weight and dimensions of the wind turbine components, traffic may be diverted thus affecting road users and this may cause opposition to the project. However, the problem can be overcome by collaborating with relevant government agencies to organize for traffic diversion or road closure. 

Opposition from residents or road users in the region

Activities related to this project may be a nuisance to local communities. This includes traffic congestion caused in the region, air pollution, high noise levels, dust, etc. (Ayarkwa & Agyekum, 2014). These problems can be overcome by ensuring adequate consultation and collaboration between the company and all other stakeholders, including the communities and the general public (Samuelsson & Ahmetasevic, 2014).

Sustainability

The project has to be sustainable as much as possible. This may be a problem as other stakeholders may not understand the need for sustainability measures to be proposed and how to adopt them. The problem can be overcome through extensive discussions and sharing of information on the benefits of sustainability and easy ways of achieving it, such as improving efficiency of resources, minimizing waste, use of renewable resources, etc. (Derak, 2018); (Riddell, 2017).

Financial constraints

Inadequate or delayed payment by the client may also affect the project because the contractor will not have the necessary financial resources to hire equipment and pay her workers, suppliers and consultants (Sellakutty & Preetha, 2016). This problem can be resolved by ensuring that the project is financially viable and developing a payment schedule that is agreed upon by the contractor and client before the start of actual construction works (Akanni, Oke, & Akpomiemie, 2015).

Socio-cultural factors

Risks

The project is also susceptible to a wide range of risk factors including, but not limited to, safety risks, environmental risks, political risks, legal risks, financial risks (Al-Karim, El Nawawy, & Abdel-Alim, 2017), technical risks and technology risks, among others (Jayasudha & Vidivelli, 2016). The company will evaluate all these risks and develop appropriate management strategies including avoiding, mitigating, sharing or transferring them (Jones, 2017); (Odimabo & Oduoza, 2013). All construction projects are susceptible to risks but the best way o to minimize their impacts on project delivery is to identify, evaluate and manage them properly.

Description and assessment of the transportation and delivery process

The company’s depot is in Coopers Plains, which is a southern suburb of Brisbane located approximately 11 km from Brisbane CBD. This is where most of the construction equipment, materials and wind turbine components are stored. These materials, equipment and wind turbine components will have to be transported to the site in North Stradbroke Island. The island is about 30 km from Brisbane CBD. The distance from Coopers Plains to North Stradbroke Island is about 51 km. These materials, equipment and components will be transported from the depot to the site using a combination of several transportation modes including train, buses, trucks and ferry.

But since the company can hire trucks and other vehicles to transport all the materials, equipment and components needed for the project, they will be delivered to the site using trucks and ferry. The designated route for the delivery of materials, equipment and components to the site is described here. After packing and loading all the materials, equipment and wind turbine components onto trucks, they will depart from the depot at Coopers Plains along Orange Grove Road towards Rookwood Avenue.

The trucks will travel along the following route: Kessels Road – Mount Gravatt Capalaba Road –Moreton Bay Road – Finucane Road – Shore Street W – Passage Street – Middle Street – Emmett Drive – North Stradbroke Island Ferry. At the Toondah Harbour, the trucks will board one of the vehicle ferries provided by Stradbroke Ferries. Figure 1 below is an example of a vehicle ferry at Toondah Harbour.

On arrival, the ferry will dock at Dunwich Ferry Terminal. The trucks will disembark from the vehicle ferry and take the main access road (sealed). They will then move along the following route: East Coast Road – Logan Cres – Ballow Road – Sewage Line Trak – leave the main access road and join the access track (unsealed) that is to be graveled by the company. They will travel along the graveled road to reach the site.

Traffic congestion

The designated route obtained from Google Maps is provided in Figure 2 below

The type of trucks and weight loaded will be chosen by considering the weight restrictions of roads in the region and also obstacles along the road like roundabouts. These factors restrict load length and vehicle tonnage (The State of Queensland, 2017a). The time of transportation and the lanes to use will also be considered to avoid violation of state rules (The State of Queensland, 2017b).

Since the steel towers are very long and heavy (their weight and dimensions details are provided in Table 2 below), their transportation from the fabricator to the site will require the company to obtain permit from relevant state and local authorities. If necessary, the company will organize with relevant authorities for traffic routing and road closure during transportation of the wind turbine components by road. The ferries are big enough and therefore there will be no requirement for special arrangement for transportation of the components by the ferry.

Table 2: Weight and dimensions details of wind turbine components

Unit	Weight	Dimensions
Top steel tower section	9 t	Length 8 m Tapers 1 m dia to 1.5m dia
Bottom steel tower section	13 t	Length 16m Tapers 1.5m dia to 2m dia
Nacelles	6 t	3.5 m length and 2m max dia
Rotor blades	2 t	6.5m length and 1.2m max da
Miscellaneous components	1 t
Internal ladders	2 t

Selection of construction equipment and construction of graveled road construction

Equipment for construction work

Some of the main machines and/or equipment to be used for the road construction work are provided in Table 3 below

Table 3: Construction equipment and machines

Equipment/machine	Use	Supplier
25t crawler excavator	It will be used for excavating and breaking rocks and earth, moving or lifting them and loading them to dampers (Mahindra Construction Equipment, 2016).	SANY
Wheel loader	It will be used for scooping debris or any surplus materials and transporting them to the dump trucks or the desired location.	Caterpillar
Motor grader	It will be used for leveling the road surface and creating a flat surface where gravel is laid and leveled properly (for grading the road).	Caterpillar
Road roller	It will be used for compacting road materials, such as fill (soil) and gravel after they have been laid down (Thuita, 2018). The type of road roller to be used is smooth-drum vibratory soil compactor.	Caterpillar
Forklift truck	It will be used for lifting heavy materials, equipment and components to the desired location on site.	Caterpillar
Stabilizing machine	it will be used for mixing soil and a binding agent for the access gravel road	Volvo
12t tipper truck	It will be used for transporting gravel from different sources to the site	SANY
26t prime mover	It will be used to deliver wind turbine components from the fabricator to the site	Doosan
25t and 100t mobile crane	It will be used for hoisting the steel tower sections	Liebberr
Generator	It will be used to provide power for the site	Cummins
Water truck	It will be used together with the road roller for spreading water on the road base before it is compacted	Caterpillar

Graveled Road Construction

Road design

Surveying of the access road has been done and therefore the site and use of the road have already been assessed. The proposed road is a gravel access road that will be used to access the site from the main road. The road will be flexible pavement complete with a gravel surface. The reasons for choosing flexible pavement have been influenced by the nature of the soil and environment in the area and the type of load that will be applied during transportation of construction equipment and materials and the wind turbine components to the site. Just like a typical flexible pavement, the proposed gravel access road will comprise of multiple layers.

These include subsoil layer, base course, surface course and surface dressing. Since the subsoil is sandy, as shown in Figure 3 below, the subgrade will have a CBR (California Bearing Ratio) ranging between 5 and 15. There is also no indication of water table present in the area and the whole site contains sandy soils hence no need for installation of complex drainage systems during road construction. Simple drainage systems such as culverts will be enough. The length of the road is 2.4 km. This being an average service road, it will have a width of 3.4 m and a shoulder of 2.0 m.

Opposition from residents or road users in the region

The calculations of cut and fill for the access gravel road are provided in Table 4 below.

Table 4: Cut and fill volumes for the graveled access road

Chainage (start)	Chainage (end)	Cut (m3)	Fill (m3)	Fill inclusive of 10% bulking factor (m3)	Cumulative volume (m3)
0	200	1000	0	0	1000
200	400	1320	0	0	2320
400	600	0	420	462	1858
600	800	0	560	616	1242
800	1000	0	960	1056	186
1000	1200	0	980	1078	-892
1200	1400	0	880	968	-1860
1400	1600	0	600	660	-2520
1600	1800	1200	0	0	-1320
1800	2000	1100	0	0	-220
2000	2200	1000	0	0	780
2200	2400	1100	0	0	1880

 The fill volume has been adjusted using a bulking factor of 10% because typically, 1 m³ of cut or excavated material will not be enough to occupy 1 m³ of fill. This means that 1 m³ of fill requires 1.1 m³ of cut material.

The mass haul diagrams of the road are provided in Figures 4 and 5 below

From Figures 4 and 5 above, sections of the curve above the x-axis represent cut while sections of the curve below the x-axis represent fill. Cumulatively, there will be 1,880 m³ of surplus soil materials. These excess materials will have to be moved or hauled from the site. Since there is excess material, no need to import or borrow any soil material as net fill volume is less than net cut volume. 

The construction works of the access road are as follows:

The route along which the proposed access road will be constructed is going to be cleared of all vegetation using a mulching machine and bulldozer. This will involve cutting and removing trees, bushes and shrubs. Some of the logs will be repurposed for use in the state owned park.

Excavators will be used to dig up the path on which the road will be constructed. The rocks, stones and earth dug will be broken and removed. Some of the cut materials will be used as fill while surplus materials shall be removed from the site and transported to the desired location for disposal or other uses.

By following the mass haul diagram of the road, sections that need to be filled will be mounted with dirt and soil. The entire road path shall be mounted with soil then graders will be used to level and smoothen the surface so that the slope of the road does not exceed 5% (Department of Transport and Main Roads, 2015). Drains and culverts will also be installed to prevent flooding of the road. Proper drainage also helps in reducing maintenance needs and increasing longevity of the road (Turnbull, 2017). Along with grading, the surface will also be compacted properly using road roller so as to create a harder, more durable, denser and stronger surface. But before compaction, a water truck will spray water on the sandy soil so as to help in creating a strong and stable base.

Sustainability

Fine grading

By following the instructions of structural engineers, graders will be used to level the surface and prepare it to receive the gravel. Besides the graders, surface leveling will also be done with digging and manual labour.

Solid base

The base of the gravel road will be stabilized by using a stabilizing machine to mix soil with a binding agent (lime, salt, calcium chloride or cement) (KH Plant, 2018). The soil will then be spread on the levelled surface and compacted properly to form a solid base that is able to withstand high traffic and last longer (Department of Transport and Main Roads, 2018).

Gravel base

After the surface has been graded finely, the gravel course will be laid. This will be done by placing gravel evenly on the prepared solid base road surface followed by another fine grading. The road should be left for at least 24 hours before starting to use to allow it attain maximum strength and stability (Federal Highway Administration, 2015).  

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