Quonset gets $22M for wind turbine

WASHINGTON – The Quonset Development Corporation has been awarded $22.3 million in federal stimulus money to upgrade the infrastructure at Quonset Business Park and purchase a crane for Davisville Port, with an eye toward creating a hub for wind turbine assembly.
QDC Managing Director Steven King said construction work may begin within six months.
But the U.S. Department of Transportation passed over a similar $39.4 million request made by the Port of Providence, as well as an application by the R.I. Department of Transportation to rebuild the bridge carrying Interstate 95 past Providence Place. It was not immediately clear why or whether the two proposals would be considered in later funding rounds.
The Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery, or TIGER, program also awarded New Bedford $20 million of the $36.4 million it sought to repair freight rail bridges leading to the Port of New Bedford. The government said currently trains can only travel over the bridges at 5 mph, and one of the bridges is resting on the wall of an adjacent building.
The TIGER money Quonset was awarded represented about 50 percent of the $45.4 million QDC requested in its application last September.
The QDC says the upgrades will help offshore wind developer Deepwater Wind LLC open a planned wind turbine assembly plant at the park. However, the federal government has not yet said exactly which projects have been funded, King said. &#8226