Not Something You See Every Day Coming Down Ryan St
Headed to work this morning, I noticed traffic near the 210 overpass was exceptionally slow. As I looked ahead, north, I could see a ton of flashing lights getting closer. Of course, I just assumed it was a wreck up the way. That was until the lights got closer and the State Police started running around shutting down the intersection of Prien and Ryan. In a line were two giant semi trailers moving at a snails pace. On the back of them were giant fan blades for windmill generators. Now, I have seen some interesting things being trucked down Ryan Street coming out of the port, I also might have picked up my fair share of 80 pound sacks of rice that fell off of a truck or two in my time. Fan blades down Ryan was a new sight to see for sure.
Let's talk about a few facts about this thing they were cruising down Ryan Street. From what I can tell, after researching, this blade was more than likely the smaller of the two sizes of blades that are currently manufactured over seas. They can either be 116ft long or 148ft long, I am going to assume it was 116ft. The three large companies that build these turbines in the United States are General Electric, Gamesa, and Vestas. These blades were being escorted and were riding on a special trailer that the rear axles could turn to make the overall turning radius much less.
Where was it headed? Well, that I don't really know. Seeing as though we don't have any in Louisiana, I'd say they were headed west. Did I mention they were getting on 210? The closes windmills we have are down in Corpus Christi, Texas with more and more farms beginning as you get into central Texas. Either way, it was neat to see them travel down Ryan and know they came in from our very own port.