Member Article

Key milestone achieved at Tullymurdoch wind farm

A key milestone was achieved at a seven-turbine wind farm in Scotland as construction enters the final phase.

A section of the £4.2m Tullymurdoch wind farm in Perth & Kinross is located in an environmentally sensitive site.

This meant principal contractor Jones Bros Civil Engineering UK had to ensure one of the turbines was erected ahead of the exclusion period to avoid delays.

And the civil engineering firm, appointed by Element Power, successfully hit the target, with all foundations on site completed and turbine deliveries underway for the remaining turbines.

Regional manager Garod Evans said: “We faced a fair few weather challenges including multiple snow falls to stay on schedule. The team have done an incredible job to avoid falling behind the timetable.

“We are on course to hand over an operational site by the end of June.

“As well as the turbine foundations, we also widened sections and added new passing places to a four-mile single-track access road. As soon as the trial run was successful we gave the green light for deliveries to start.

“The contract also included the construction of a 6m by 11m substation. Our in-house civil engineering operatives built the structure, and we employed a local contractor for roofing, plastering, and other interior works.”

After overseeing the safe erection of the turbines, which will produce 14MW of energy, Jones Bros will turn its attention to reinstatement works on site.

Garod added: “Before the site is handed over to Element Power, we will return it to its previous state. This will include finishing off the drainage, re-instating peaty turves around the crane pads, and re-grading and tidying the borrow pit, which was a quarry used to extract rock, which cut down on 800 vehicular journeys to and from the site.

“The team will also install high-voltage cabling and link it to the substation.”

The wind farm project has also allowed Jones Bros apprentices and trainees to gain valuable experience.

Garod said: “We had 20 people on site at the peak of the project.

“We had a good mix of experienced personnel and apprentices on site, with the two apprentices learning a lot under the mentorship of Gareth Jones, works manager, and Elfyn Dafydd, foreman.”

Jones Bros has a reputation as one of the UK’s leading wind farm infrastructure contractors.

The company’s aim is to continue to achieve steady growth rates and deliver success for the long term.

As well as renewable energy, the family-firm is currently working on contracts in various sectors including waste management, highways, and flood and marine defence projects around the UK.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .