Another Day at the Office

Yesterday we had a bit of excitement in the Bridge Department. We've been preparing for this large load to come through all summer and it's finally here! Several of these 300 ton transformers have been transported to a Dam north of us in Virginia in the past years. So most of the ground work has already been done. This particular backup transformer started off in Brazil. It made its way to the US by boat and from Corpus Christi, Tx road a train to WV. From the rail road it "jumped" on to this 12 axle, each with 8 wheels, trailer. These axles have their own hydraulic lifts so the the cargo rides level. There is a seat at the front and rear of the trailer for the hydraulic operators. This rig has a pulling truck and one to push. In the picture below the Pusher is not hooked up because it blew its transmission.

Since we already had all the traffic control in place and both Va and Wv State Trooper escorts ready they decided to at least make it off the interstate. This part of the trip was crucial because to avoid going over any bridges the load would travel the wrong way on the interstate in a blocked off lane. You can see in the second picture we are heading down the exit ramp. This is where I joined the caravan and we proceeded at 5 mph to the next entrance ramp where we made our exit. Once we got into a town it felt like I was a part of a parade. People saw the lead trooper clearing both lanes of traffic and then the lead flagger with a huge pole attached to the front of his truck to check power lines before the load got there. He would jump out and use a pole to lift the line so it would skim over the load. Everyone was standing outside watching this gray box on what looks like an over sided trailer roll slowly by. By the way the trailer has to be so large to distribute the load, especially so that not all of the weight is on a bridge at one time. Monday they made it past the high traffic areas and pulled off the road to wait for parts for the pushing truck. There is no way the pulling truck can take it all the way alone. In just the 15 miles it traveled on Monday the pulling truck needed a new belt and an alternator. They thought we'd finish moving Wed but we got a call at quiting time today that the wrong parts were sent so we are still waiting. When we do finally finish I'll have photos of the Jump Bridge they construct over our bridges so the load doesn't actually travel on our structure. To be Continued......