PORTSMOUTH — Groundwork for the town’s wind turbine took shape these past few weeks. In early July, Wind-Smart LLC, the construction arm of AAER Inc. which manufactures the town’s turbine, cleared land behind the new gymnasium and tennis courts at Portsmouth High School.

Workers laid down an access road of crushed gravel. And then Laiho Excavating, of Chepachet, R.I., dug out a sizable hole for the foundation.

The foundation, scheduled for installation in two weeks, will be five feet thick and have a 24-foot diameter. But first, 14 rock anchors, so called because they hold the foundation in place, were buried 45 feet deep into the ground. Then a six-inch concrete slab filled in around the anchors, leaving about eight feet of the anchors jutting out, so laborers would have a level surface to work on as they assemble into a hoop shape the steel rebars that will strengthen the foundation when it is poured over.

Wind-Smart project manager Alexander Pichs says the company is trying to finish the foundation construction before school starts. They must excavate trenches from the turbine’s base to the transformer (which hasn’t arrived yet) where the wind energy will be converted and then run through electrical lines underground to the power lines at the road. Putting in the foundation will be one of the last steps in completing the groundwork.

And then, work stops until the turbine parts ship to the site.

Robert Hamilton, of the economic development committee which pioneered the wind turbine project, said all the parts have been ordered. He said the blades, made in Italy, will be freighted over to the U.S.; the tower will come in three sections from South Korea; and the nacelle, which houses the gears that generate electricity, will come from the AAER manufacturing plant in Canada.

The turbine should be at the high school in October, Mr. Hamilton said.

Once all the parts are in, Mr. Pichs said his company can have the turbine up and running within a week.

Stay informed

The Sustainable Energy subcommittee of the Portsmouth Economic Development Committee posts photos and information about the turbine project on its Web site www.portsmouthrienergy.com/const7-18-08.htm. Wind-Smart’s project manager also provides a weekly report of construction progress in a PDF on the site.