The company of Germanischer Lloyd is now offering inspection by means of rope access technology (RAT).
Rope access techniques are already firmly established as a flexible and efficient way of working on poorly accessible buildings or industrial plants; in recent years, these techniques have proven their worth throughout Germany, especially for work on towers, chimneys and glass facades. In view of the rapid growth in turbine sizes - a hub height of over 100 metres is no longer a rarity - the conventional use of truck-based telescopic platforms for rotor blade inspections is reaching its limits. For offshore installations, the activities involving the inspection, assembly, repair and maintenance of rotor blades are only possible by rope in the first place. GL Wind has thus had engineers trained in abseiling and ascent techniques, with a view to performing periodic monitoring both onshore and offshore. The skills of these staff members were examined and verified by the German certification body FISAT.
