airbase – HWS Towers

A PRECAST FOUNDATION
for Wind Turbines

Simplified to 4 legs. Why more?

HWS CONCRETE TOWERS S.L. (HWS) has Developed and Patented a new PRECAST FOUNDATION for the WIND ENERGY SECTOR, as well as the associated construction methodology.
The AirBASE introduces a new structural scheme that profits from serial manufacturing processes as well as simple transportation and easy on-site assembly.
The AirBase consists of four isolated supports built on-site connected to two precast/prestressed girders placed in a cross-shape.
With this innovation the foundation can be divided in two parts:

1

first part are the four isolated supports build “on-site”, shallow or deep foundations (piles), which are mainly dependent on the soil conditions.

2

second part are two precast girders – therefore industrialized- which are wind turbine dependent. The precast girders are conected to the isolated footings using pinhole or fixed joints. While the first girder could be transported in one piece, the second girder has to be divided in two halves and connected to the first one forming a cross shape.

The AirBase resists the high loads introduced by the new generation of +4.X MW wind turbines thanks to its structural scheme: the precast girders work as lever arms. These girders could present different cross-shapes:

INDUSTRIALIZATION

This is the best strategy to REDUCE COST and construction TIME, while offering high QUALITY CONTROL.
More than half of the foundation could be pre-cast and as a result industrialized.

COST-EFFECTIVENESS

The estimated savings could reach up to 35%, a percentage that will mainly depend on the soil properties, turbine size and tower height. The bigger and higher, the better.

APPLICABILITY

The advantages of the AirBase solution are significant in countries and wind farms with bad weather conditions, when working outdoors is limited to only some months of the year, where the quality or regularity of the concrete is variable, when reducing construction times is critical, when the depth of the four supports is different, where there is a lack of human resources, and so on.