What are the impacts to the shoal during construction?
Although there will be temporary impacts to the seabed during construction, Cape Wind will be using environmentally friendly construction techniques to minimize these impacts. The wind turbine foundations will be single monopoles, hollow steel pipes that will be driven into the seabed. Since the monopole foundations are filled with displaced sand, the construction methodology does not produce any excavated sediments in need of disposal. The electric cables associated with the wind farm will be buried a minimum of six feet below the seabed. The cables will be laid with a jet plow, a high-speed water jet that temporarily liquefies the area of the seabed where the cable is laid. This technique minimizes disruption to the seabed, with water opacity returning to normal within about 24 hours.
