# Where are these giant windmills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974 "2006-07-25T16:42:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/21 "2006-07-26T03:14:50Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > There was a picture in a documentary of the little cubicle containing the generator. Damn thing was a one room house. The biggest ones are so large they have helicopter landing pads on top of the nacelle. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/22 "2006-07-26T04:58:18Z")
Here’s a map of windfarms of the Northeast US., including one in Atlantic City. [http://www.newwindenergy.com/windfarm\_map.html](http://www.newwindenergy.com/windfarm_map.html) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/23 "2006-07-26T09:33:55Z")
> [@Enola Straight](#): > > Here’s a map of windfarms of the Northeast US., including one in Atlantic City. > [http://www.newwindenergy.com/windfarm\_map.html](http://www.newwindenergy.com/windfarm_map.html) Hmm, we have one a couple of miles from where I live (a wind farm, not just one windmill) but apparently it doesn’t rank to get on the list. Northwest Ohio by the way. They’re either adding to that one or building another one as I’ve been seeing blades getting hauled down the highway for months now. On 80/90 too. I think they’re awesome and I’d love it if they slapped some up in my backyard. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2006, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/24 "2006-07-26T23:22:20Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > And Google Earth links? I’d like to read more about them. 35- 27’49.11"N 101-14’00.00" W I put a " - " where the degree goes since I don’t know the ALT function for Degree. It’s 35 degrees N, 101 degrees W. Look for NW to SE diagonal lines that show up pretty good starting from 22,000 ft eye level. You can zoom in close enough to see the rotors and the shadows. ---
**Author:** ![footloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/49beb7/32.png) [@footloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footloose)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/25 "2006-07-27T08:55:59Z")
I used to work for a trucking company that shipped those things from Texas up to SoDak. The company had to specially fabricate the trailers as the blades are huuuuge. IIRC gross shipping charges were something like $13,000 per blade, including permits and fuel surcharge and return charges. Now that I think of it, though, I don’t believe we shipped the turbine/generator part - just the blades. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/26 "2006-07-27T15:42:46Z")
I’ve seen these trucks heading west on I-90, just outside of Euclid, OH. I was wondering what they were for and where they were headed. I had 'em figured for windmill blades, but I didn’t know that Ohio had wind farms! Cool. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/27 "2006-07-27T17:53:31Z")
Hijack: recently an industrial dryer was shipped from Milwaukee to N Dakota. The Truck is \> 200 feet long. [http://www.wqow.com/news/articles/article\_7200.shtml](http://www.wqow.com/news/articles/article_7200.shtml) > **[The big truck travels through Minnesota](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2006/07/24/bigtruckdrives)** > > A huge semi is making its way into Minnesota, through the Twin Cities and on toward North Dakota. The super-sized load weighs 458,000 pounds -- the same as 28 full-grown African elephants. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/28 "2006-07-27T19:33:24Z")
> [@Jonathan Chance](#): > > There’s another set near the Somerset rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The damn things are huge… Yep, I’ve seen 'em. Very impressive. There are proposals for offshore wind farms along the Long Island and Cape Cod coasts, IIRC, which are fiercely opposed by (some) locals on aesthetic grounds and also due to concerns about impact upon migratory bird populations. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/29 "2006-07-27T20:27:18Z")
Out in the Altamont Pass, there’s a few of [these](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrieus_wind_generator) along with all the other normal ones. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/30 "2006-08-05T01:20:01Z")
I think it would be cool if building in NYC had one of these on the top of the building. You could probably have a hundred or so of them. ---
**Author:** ![LuckyPilot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@LuckyPilot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LuckyPilot)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/31 "2006-08-05T02:42:56Z")
Last summer I was living in North Dakota, and I worked for a company by the name of [LM Glasfiber](http://www.lmglasfiber.com/). We built 37.3m (122ft) wind turbine blades. [This](http://www.lmglasfiber.com/dz/A000428_32_4.jpg) is a blade of similar size. Each blade weighs 14,000 lbs, contains roughly 3000 yd of fiberglass fabric, and 3200 lbs of epoxy resin. A blade costs the company around $80,000 from start to finish. I can only imagine what GE was paying for them. The completed blades would be [loaded](http://www.lmglasfiber.com/dz/A000993_32_4.jpg) in pairs on telescoping trailers and driven down I-29 and then out west on I-94. The trailers were so long that the rear axles steered via hydraulic rams to help negotiate the on-ramps. LM has factories all over the globe now, and the largest blades they build are at the factory in Germany, and they measure 61.5m (202ft) from root to tip. They are currently the largest in the world. For reference, there are workers standing on the scaffolding inspecting [this](http://www.lmglasfiber.com/dz/A000689_32_4.jpg) blade. As an aside, while it was an impressive operation (to say the least!), it was certainly not something I’d want to do for the rest of my life. Thousands upon thousands of yards of fiberglass fabric + millions of pounds of epoxy resin + tens of thousands of gallons gelcoat = nasty working conditions. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2006, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/32 "2006-08-05T07:29:05Z")
There’s one right in downtown Cleveland; near Brown’s Stadium, the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and the Science Center. No pic though. ---
**Author:** ![Defective\_Detective](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d2c977/32.png) [@Defective\_Detective](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defective_Detective)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/33 "2006-08-07T01:50:54Z")
> [@Sam Stone](#): > > The biggest ones are so large they have helicopter landing pads on top of the nacelle. Uh… I don’t think so. I’m no expert on windmills, but I can tell you that \ + \ + \ = probably not a good landing spot. ---
**Author:** ![Klaatu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Klaatu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Klaatu)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/34 "2006-08-07T05:05:48Z")
How loud are these big windmills during a good wind? ---
**Author:** ![A2Steve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@A2Steve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A2Steve)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/35 "2006-08-07T05:21:35Z")
> [@chrismeraz](#): > > Uh… I don’t think so. > > I’m no expert on windmills, but I can tell you that \ + \ + \ = probably not a good landing spot. “When the maintenance engineers do have to call, there’s a helicopter landing pad on the nacelle, and inside the nacelle, there’s a six-tonne crane that will enable the removal and replacement of 95 percent of the parts.” [http://evolution.skf.com/zino.aspx?articleID=14871](http://evolution.skf.com/zino.aspx?articleID=14871) I would imagine they stop the rotors before allowing a helicopter to land. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974/36 "2006-08-07T05:26:43Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > I have yet to see a vehicle of 180 feet overall length moving down the road but that would be cool. [Yet another slight hijack]When I was a young’un, I got to see one of those giant dump trucks in motion. Those are the ones used in strip mines. I can’t remember where the place was, but my dad had some business there and took my brothers and me along to gawk at the equipment.[/Yet anotehr slight hijack] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-are-these-giant-windmills/365974.md?page=1)