BAYONNE – Workers from a private company set up a crane early this week near Fifth Street and Route 440 in Bayonne in anticipation of beginning repair work on the city’s wind turbine, which has been shut down since June.
The turbine was shut off after vibrations were detected on it.
The malfunction has been traced to a bad bearing. Workers must lower the turbine’s generator and blades to fix it, according to Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority Executive Director Tim Boyle.
If winds are in single digits in miles per hour, the repair could move forward, Boyle said. Faster wind speeds would likely put off the repair.
“The project right now is truly weather-dependent,” Boyle said. “If you see a window of opportunity, you like to try to take advantage of it.”
The original plans to shut off the Fifth Street access road to Rt. 440 for the work likely won’t be necessary now.
“We don’t anticipate the road needing to be closed,” Boyle said on March 2. “We came to this determination after reevaluating the site on Monday.”
Once the repair has begun, it should be completed in one to two days.
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