By Karen Simmons
On Wednesday, April 26 the first wind turbine blade was successfully transported from Gladstone Port to Clarke Creek Wind Farm, travelling almost 300km through urban centres and the regional road network.
Clarke Creek Wind Farm commenced trial runs transporting Over Size, Over Mass (OSOM) loads from the Gladstone Port to the wind farm site on Marlborough–Sarina Road, travelling through Gladstone and Rockhampton over the weekend.
The first trial loads consisted of an approximately 76m-long wind turbine blade and a 100-tonne cylindrical tower component.
The Department of Transport and Main Road (TMR) advised that the oversize loads, which started on Wednesday were going to continue through to Sunday, 30 April, between 9pm and 7am.
TMR advised that subsequent blade component loads will be 81.6 metres long, each needing three Queensland Police Service escorts on a 14-hour shift to be successfully transported.
Traffic delays were expected along the Gladstone Port Access Road, Gladstone–Mt Larcom Road, Dawson Highway (Gladstone–Calliope), Bruce Highway (Calliope–Rockhampton–Marlborough), Marlborough–Sarina Road and various local government roads in the Gladstone area.
The $3 billion Clarke Creek Wind Farm is one of the largest renewable energy projects in the Southern Hemisphere and will be built over two stages.
The site project is located 150km northwest of Rockhampton and 150km south of Mackay in the Isaac Shire and Livingstone Shire areas.
It represents a combination of strong and predominantly night-time wind energy generation to complement Queensland solar production.
Stage 1 is a renewable energy project currently under construction 50km west of Marlborough and is set to see 100 wind turbines producing 450MW of green energy.
Stage one and two of the Squadron Energy project is set to produce enough wind, solar and battery energy to power more than 660,000 homes.
The schedule for OSOM movements to Clarke Creek Wind Farm will be confirmed and published on the Squadron Energy website.
Current approved plans will see transportation completed overnight with police escorts, running up to six nights per week from April/May 2023 for approximately 15 months.
Motorists are reminded to drive carefully and be aware of changed traffic conditions with multiple electronic signage boards in use along the route for drivers.
Up to date information about transport movements for residents and visitors can be accessed by signing up for SMS messages to [email protected], or accessing TMR’s latest traffic conditions by phoning 13 19 40 or visiting www.qldtraffic.qld.gov.au