Job Corps students learn to harness the wind

PALMER — There’s a new wind turbine on Palmer-Fishhook Road that students from Alaska Job Corps Center helped to build last week.

The main benefits of the training project were teamwork, trust and precision. These skills are not needed just for people who do rigging. Everyone who works with others on complex projects needs these skills.

On Aug. 3, Alaska Job Corps electrical instructor Ben Kainer introduced students to the Susitna Energy Systems Co., which is operated by Kirk Garoutte. The company specializes in natural energy sources, including hydro, solar and wind. This time they were building a wind turbine. The company supplied the materials and equipment.

“Let’s get this bad boy started,” Garoutte told the waiting students.

The crew equipped themselves with proper safety gear and proceeded to work. They started with the 30-foot generation pole and a 70-foot tower. The pieces of hollow metal pole were lined up end-to-end so they were straight, even and touching. Then hefty clamps secured the poles firmly into place. Constant adjustments, requiring communication and teamwork, were necessary to connect the poles accurately.

At this point the tower and generation pole were separate pieces. Both are anchored, separately, to a joint designated point, which would later be the solid base for the permanent tower. After assembling the generation pole and tower, the crew cut and readied steel guy wires to keep the tower from toppling or swaying.

On day two, the crew began the painstaking process of raising the generation pole. As this is the most dangerous part of the project, professional teamwork, trust and coordination are essential. Any slip, misstep or pop during this procedure could result in structural failure or bodily injury. Fortified cable wires were torque-wrenched to both tower and generation pole. A strong truck winch was the power to raise the gen pole, using both a pulley system and a ladder as a fulcrum. It is a difficult maneuver to describe, however it is physics in action.

The generation pole is raised up completely and secured from falling. Now here is where the gen pole comes into play. Cable wires attached to anchor points on the gen pole are matched with corresponding anchor points on the tower, which is still lying prone on the ground. This process is similar to opening up a trap door on a hinge, which remains stationary on the ground. With a little reattaching here and there, the truck winch then pulls the gen pole back down, which in turn raises the tower up — another example of physics in action.

After checking and rechecking, Garoutte said, “Alright, let’s get this bad boy up and running.”

The crew lowered the tower slowly to the earth and meticulously attached the 175-pound turbine to its top.

It’s silver and shaped like a football, but resembles a metallic jet engine. In fact, it is a jet engine and it generates the same amount of energy as 24 revving cars, yet is only the size of, or smaller than, a small car engine.

After attaching the turbine, Garoutte used his laptop computer to run an analytical system check.

The final step was attaching the three scimitar-shaped fiberglass blades to a metal hub.

Then that assembly was placed on the turbine, followed by a durable plastic nosecone. Everything is double-checked.

The tower is now raised for the last time. Power is connected. Adjustments are made and then the crew waits, watching the blades. The turbine started in anemometer mode to test the wind.

“If the turbine likes its location, it will really spin!” Garoutte said.

Sure enough, it went from anemometer mode into free spin and started whirling.

After cleaning up the project site and hauling equipment and tools, Garoutte said, “Thanks for the help. We look forward to having Job Corps help us again.”

Jonathan Austin, 20, is an electrical student at the Alaska Job Corps Center. He has been enrolled for 60 days and is nearly full-time in the trade. He hails from Anchorage, where he attended Bartlett High School. His hobbies are reading, writing, exercising and video games. He would like to become an electrician, a professional writer and a pilot.