T-P-I manufacturing in Newton Iowa is sending its wind turbine blades farther away, thanks to an increased use of rail shipping. The general manager of the facility in Newton, Terry Van Huysen, says traditionally the blades have been trucked — one at a time — to their destination; which is very costly.
Van Huysen expects the length of the blades to continue to increase, so the company has turned to railroad shipping.
When the 316-thousand square foot Newton plant opened in September 2008, Van Huysen says they were producing blades 37-meters long, or around 121 feet. Now the blades are about 60-meters — or 196 feet long.
The Newton T-P-I plant currently has over 900 employees. T-P-I Composites started out in 1968 as a boat manufacturer. Van Huysen says the company began making wind blades in 2002 at their plant in Juarez Mexico.
