It has been projected the expansion of a wind farm in Becerril del Monte (Palencia, Spain) in which it is planned to use a hybrid tower type, consisting of a section of concrete composed of segments (precast concrete) whose height can reach 50 meters and a length of steel cash. Considering the particularities of the tower, to the study of the foundation, the geotechnical investigation survey performed consisted of:
The geotechnical study aims to determine the nature and properties of soil aspects necessary to design the structure, surface improvements and the type of foundation, considering the following objectives:
-. Identify constraints and geotechnical problems of the site under study.
-. Study of natural hazards. Identify and define the geological risks and assets geomorphological processes that may affect the new project. Geomorphological mapping include the following: escarpments or unstable areas, drainage channels, alluvial fans, processes of rapid erosion or deposition, dissolution or subsurface forms acarcavamiento, endorreicas surface areas with accumulation of salts: sabkkhas, salt and salt crusts, discharges due to human activity, rocky outcrops and evaluation of the effects of weathering processes, presence of unstable soils or very low bearing capacity).
-. Provide knowledge of geotechnical characteristics of the land, according to the project structure.
-. Existing zoning different lithologies in order to define the most appropriate foundations in each project area.
-. Determine the geotechnical parameters of each lithology detected for project design, where different solutions according to the foundation load stresses are discussed.
-. Recommendations for foundations of structures. Findings in relation to the overall stability of the foundation bearing capacity against the vertical ground failure, uprooting, horizontal ground failure, and structural failure.
-. Determine levels of corrosion and aggressiveness of the land to the maximum depth of execution of foundations.
