Fully operational since 2015, the Los Vientos Windfarm near Rio Grande City, Texas, spans nearly 30,000 acres and provides renewable energy for approximately 60,000 homes in South Texas.
Fully operational since 2015, the Los Vientos Windfarm near Rio Grande City, Texas, spans nearly 30,000 acres and provides renewable energy for approximately 60,000 homes in South Texas.
The windfarm required 20,000 tons of cement for the concrete foundations of the wind turbines. The customer faced challenges achieving proper concrete strengths from their on-site portable concrete batch plant and could not determine the cause. Their concrete mix design used the same cement and aggregates used in prior projects with no quality issues. Without a resolution, completion of the windfarm would not be possible.
Ash Grove Cement, A CRH Company, partnered with the customer to investigate their challenge and develop a solution. After a thorough investigation of possible causes and leveraging the deep technical expertise of the Ash Grove team, it was determined that the aggregates were being contaminated locally by airborne pesticides being applied at nearby farms. These pesticides contained compounds that were reacting negatively with the concrete mixtures. Upon discovering this cause, Ash Grove worked with the customer to implement measures to prevent such contamination. This enabled the customer to produce high-quality concrete and get the project back on schedule