The L/B Jill docked in Bridgeport at the beginning of November, offering residents and passersby a chance to take in a unique vessel, which will play an important role in the construction of the South Fork Wind Farm off the coast of Long Island.
The L/B stands for “lift boat,” a class of vessel with the ability to deploy “legs” that will lift the body of the boat out of the water and provide crews both with accommodations and a stable work platform from which they can work while constructing the tristate area’s first major offshore wind turbine project. The hull will be suspended 15 feet to 20 feet in the air above the surface of the water, avoiding waves and instability. Measured from the seafloor to the top of its leg housing, the Jill will stand at 335 feet tall — a greater height than the Statue of Liberty.
Once completed, the South Fork Wind Farm will serve as the central component in a project providing the Eversource power grid with an additional 130 megawatts of power, enough to power 70,000 homes. It will be paired with several energy storage facilities and transmission improvements on Long Island.
Read the full article at Westchester & Fairfield County Business Journal.
