Murra Warra Wind Farm

Mammoth towers, challenging route,
tight schedule.

All in a day's work.

The Murra Warra (Stage 1) Wind Farm consisted of 61 Senvion 3.7M144 wind turbine generators, situated in north-western Victoria. ARES transported all wind turbine components from the Port of Portland to site, a distance of 259km one way.

We can handle whatever you throw at us.

The wind turbine components arrived into Portland over 12 months on 26 separate ships. ARES received the cargo under hook and transferred into the nearby storage area, before staging deliveries to site over 16 months. Deliveries continued even through the adversity and uncertainty of the principal contractor changing midway through the project.

Record Breaking – not once but twice.

The blades for the project were the longest ever transported in Australia at the time, measuring 71 metres in length and providing an unprecedented logistical challenge. This included having to transport the blades through the middle of the Victorian town of Nhill. Careful planning and consultation ensured these blades were delivered with minimal impact to the community.

The base tower sections were also the largest ever transported in Australia, measuring in at 5.8m in diameter. On their trailers, these took up nearly two lanes on a typical country road, and their height also required a large number of overhead power lines to be lifted prior to transport.

We can handle whatever you throw at us.

The wind turbine components arrived into Portland over 12 months on 26 separate ships. ARES received the cargo under hook and transferred into the nearby storage area, before staging deliveries to site over 16 months. Deliveries continued even through the adversity and uncertainty of the principal contractor changing midway through the project.

Record Breaking – not once but twice.

The blades for the project were the longest ever transported in Australia at the time, measuring 71 metres in length and providing an unprecedented logistical challenge. This included having to transport the blades through the middle of the Victorian town of Nhill. Careful planning and consultation ensured these blades were delivered with minimal impact to the community.

The base tower sections were also the largest ever transported in Australia, measuring in at 5.8m in diameter. On their trailers, these took up nearly two lanes on a typical country road, and their height also required a large number of overhead power lines to be lifted prior to transport.

Telling Numbers

We really racked up the numbers on this project.  Here’s a snapshot of our achievements:

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Senvion Wind Turbines 

The Senvion “Hercules” turbine lived up to its name, able to produce 3.7MW from its 144m-diameter rotor.

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Blade Length

The previous record of 67.2m was only set a few months before – showing the rapid pace of technological progress.

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KM’s to Site

The journey took around 6 hours, with trucks able to be offloaded and return to port on the same day.

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Total Deliveries

These include turbine components, towers, blades, transformers and containerised cargo.

The Route

Let’s Split Up

The primary transport route for components went around Hamilton, skirted the western boundary of the Grampians National Park and bypassed Horsham before arriving at Murra Warra Wind Farm – a trip of 259km one way.

An alternate route for the blades was required due to their length. This headed northwest from Hamilton towards Nhill before turning east to Murra Warra.

Innovation

Low Rider

With our specially made bookend trailers, we were able to minimise the overall transport height of the 5.8m-diameter tower sections, enabling us to minimize any issues with overhead assets along the route.

The bookends were adjustable for a range of different tower flange sizes, allowing them to carry a variety of tower sections, and strong enough to withstand tower weights of up to 80 tons.

The Route

Let’s Split Up

The primary transport route for components went around Hamilton, skirted the western boundary of the Grampians National Park and bypassed Horsham before arriving at Murra Warra Wind Farm – a trip of 259km one way.

An alternate route for the blades was required due to their length. This headed northwest from Hamilton towards Nhill before turning east to Murra Warra.

Innovation

Low Rider

With our specially made bookend trailers, we were able to minimise the overall transport height of the 5.8m-diameter tower sections, enabling us to minimize any issues with overhead assets along the route.

The bookends were adjustable for a range of different tower flange sizes, allowing them to carry a variety of tower sections, and strong enough to withstand tower weights of up to 80 tons.

Client TESTIMONIAL

The can-do attitude of Ares was unparalleled in the industry.  Importantly, it was Ares’ foresight and innovation which brought these projects to completion.  A key feature during execution were the bookend trailers safely utilised at Murra Warra.  These trailers were specially designed and developed by Ares and partners to transport the largest tower sections ever seen in the Australian wind industry, being 6m in diameter.

Paul Phelan – Head of Projects, Senvion APAC