Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

A wind turbine that will stand 60 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty is traveling by barge from Quonset to Newport this afternoon.

The turbine, which has been delivered to Quonset from the manufacturer in Canada, is in three pieces, each piece weighing more than 50 tons, according to a press release.
Specialty Diving Services, which operates the barge, plans to have 10 riggers, crane operators and tug boat personnel on hand for the transport across the Bay to the Newport shipyard, where the parts will be offloaded by the shipyard's 300-ton travel lift and trucked to Portsmouth for assembly.

Governor Carcieri is expected to attend, along with dignitaries from Portsmouth, the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation and the Quonset Development Corporation, as well as representatives from the wind turbine manufacturer and the contractor who will assemble it in Portsmouth.

The turbine will stand 213 feet tall and provide enough power to support 60 percent of the Portsmouth's municipal electric usage, for schools, street lights and town buildings.

The blades were trucked from Connecticut on Jan. 23 and have been on display at Portsmouth High School.

 Tags  Newport shipyard Portsmouth Quonset Rhode Island

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