Residents in Lunenburg, MA, will soon enjoy expanded renewable solar power. A new 3.5-megawatt commercial solar farm is underway along Electric Avenue—no pun intended.
Located in northern Massachusetts, Lunenburg, population 11,657, is roughly 45 miles northwest of Boston. In 2017, the town installed a solar farm, offering community solar power for residents. Now the town will have enhanced access to community solar energy.
Western Earthworks is a Florence, Massachusetts-based construction firm. The company prepared 12 acres in Lunenburg in anticipation of the new solar farm. Jack Henderson-Adams is the owner of Western Earthworks. He says that, as with any project, this one presented some unique challenges.
“Working near wetlands in Massachusetts, we face strict guidelines and regulations,” he says. “Some of these wetland areas in our projects are fragile. We need to approach them as such.”
Western Earthworks performs a variety of construction tasks. "You have to be versatile when you're working in western Massachusetts," Jack says. The company is not willing to run from a challenge. The firm has experience constructing solar farms like the one in Lunenburg.
“We strive to become a leader in this field,” Jack says. “We welcome the challenge. Although these challenges can make our job difficult at times, it is 100% there for our future. And it's for the wellbeing of our ecosystems that we work around.”
At 37 years old, Jack has wisdom far beyond his age. He started operating equipment at a young age. That led to selling heavy equipment for a manufacturer of processing equipment. His time being around equipment gave Jack added insight into how to approach his projects.
Clearing and Grinding
Being aware of his surroundings, Jack and his crew set out to clear the future solar farm area of native trees. It started by building an approximately 3,000-foot access road from the nearby street. That entailed a sensitive and careful wetland crossing.
Leading the way and constructing the road was a Doosan DX170LC-5 crawler excavator. It came equipped with a dangle harvesting head attachment.
“The equipment needs to be flexible,” Jack says. “The dangle head hangs and freely swings from the excavator’s quick coupler. It’s paired with a bucket-thumb combo, which allows us to fell and buck the wood onsite. Then we go into excavating.”
Once Jack built the road to the main area for the solar farm, he cleared trees with the excavator and dangle head. Left in stacks, Jack's crew processed the trees with a horizontal grinder. A second Doosan excavator, a DX225LC-5, lifted and fed the knocked-down trees in the grinder. The DX225LC-5 was later used to extract the tree stumps from the area, using a bucket and thumb pair. When his operator grabbed and pulled the stumps, most of the dirt fell through the thumb’s tines. This sped up the stump removal process and minimized material handling.
After processing the trees into mulch, another excavator loaded them in an articulated dump truck (ADT). The truck traversed the rough terrain to deliver the mulch to assigned areas. There, the employees placed the mulch for erosion control purposes.
Ledge Blasting
Job specs required a blasting company to remove roughly 4,700 yards of ledge rock. During the job, the blasting company carefully prepared an area of the job site for the ledge rock removal.
A DX350LC-5 excavator placed large mats covering the blast area. Once blasted, the DX350LC-5 operator used the bucket teeth to pick up the mats by a ring affixed to the mats. The operator efficiently placed the mats in a stack next to the blasted area.
Next, the DX350LC-5 built a temporary path over the blasted ledge rock for the DA30 ADT to make its way over the area. The DA30 proceeded to the land-clearing area to haul materials onsite.
Dirt Work
Following the land clearing, Jack's crew switched to excavating and grading mode. They performed a 5,000-yard cut and a 5,000-yard fill. Then, they dispersed 6,000 cubic yards of topsoil onsite, aided by a DL220-5 wheel loader. The entire area also needed to be free of stone larger than 6 inches. Western Earthworks precisely graded it according to the project specs.
Yet another excavator—a DX235LCR-5—trenched the area for underground utilities. Western Earthworks paired it with trenching and digging buckets to match the required excavating specs. Employees completed about 3,000 feet of trenching to support the solar farm utilities. Working in tandem with the DX170LC-5, the two excavators performed the trenching work.
“The DX235LCR-5 excavator’s zero tail swing is great for digging around panels and racking,” Jack says. “When we trench, this is our go-to for maneuverability and breakout force.”
Jack purchased the wheel loader and other heavy equipment at Barry Equipment. Barry Equipment is the Doosan construction equipment dealer in Webster, MA.
As part of the solar farm project, Western Earthworks poured several thousand feet of concrete. Upon completion of the clearing, dirt work, and concrete pouring, Jack and his crew hydroseeded the area. They hydroseeded approximately 550,000 square feet for erosion control purposes.
Always Keep Learning
Jack founded Western Earthworks on a mentality of “never stop learning.”
"Instead of facing a task that might seem petty, we take the time to educate our workforce. We teach them about the value and importance of the task at hand," Jack says. "We also take the time to explain the consequences of a job not done right. Being part of something much larger can help carry us all through the day-to-day challenges on the job site."
When challenges present themselves, Jack takes a positive approach to the situations.
“As a business owner, you have to get comfortable operating in a day-to-day environment that can be very uncomfortable at times,” he says. “We face thousands of different variables every week, and you have to keep focused on the big picture.”
A recent challenge for Western Earthworks was building an air bridge to span a gas pipeline. The air bridge allowed Western Earthworks to access another 3 acres of land for clearing.
In the five years the company has been performing construction, Jack says there have been ups and downs.
“I never thought that we would be where we’re at today in such a short time,” he says. “It’s any dream I’ve ever had, I’ve accomplished those and then some. From here on out, it’s all a bonus.”
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Lifelong Passion for Equipment
Jack Henderson-Adams says he's always had an interest in equipment. From a sandbox when he was a child to today's modern construction job sites with heavy equipment.
"It's always something that I've been pulled to," he says. "I've always kind of gravitated toward engines and things that make noise. If it's got wheels or tracks and a motor, I'm usually all over it."
It’s not uncommon to see Jack climb into a piece of equipment and operate it. He enjoys the opportunity to work alongside his crew inside the cab of a piece of heavy equipment.
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