The answer is blowing in the wind: a Montana gravel pit is exploring new ground with a plan to build a wind farm for electricity

Pit & Quarry, Sept, 2004 by James E. Guyette

It helps also that McIntyre has a direct, common sense approach to the concept without flamboyant talk of leading the technological future.

The suitability of wind power seems to be an accepted solution for everybody, and it is not being viewed as a far-out venture.

Huge air

Certainly the wind is available. The National Weather Service has an anemometer on Gore Hill to service the nearby Great Falls International Airport.

The average wind speed on Gore Hill is 12.4 mph, according to the weather service. The wind speed peaks at 14.7 mph in January and hits a low of 9.9 mph in July.

Air moving through the turbines will be blowing at an even quicker clip owing to the height of the 326-ft. towers. The weather service anemometer is just 30 feet tall. United has erected a 150-ft.-tall anemometer not far from where the turbines will sit.

The situation measures up to a brisk supply of wind power, McIntyer says. That position is confirmed on an Internet site for bicycle enthusiasts, where a pedaler comments: "My favorite bike trail in Great Falls is behind United Materials, where I catch huge air!"