Carriers in Ohio will transport a 458-ton “super load” of heavy equipment across several major roadways to Licking County’s new Intel chip manufacturing plant starting on Sunday.
The Ohio Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday that the move is expected to take more than a week starting from a dock on the Ohio River near Manchester and ending in New Albany, which neighbors Licking County.
The bulk of the route will be northbound on U.S. Highway 23 toward Columbus. Due to the size of the load and slow speeds of the convoys, this portion of the route will take several days. Stops will be made along the route in West Portsmouth, Lucasville, Waverly, Chillicothe, Rickenbacker, Groveport, Pickerington and Pataskala, before the load is delivered on June 25.
The load – an air processor known as a cold box used for silicon chip manufacturing – measures approximately 23 feet tall, 20 feet wide and 280 feet long. It weighs 916,000 pounds. It is the 12th of nearly two dozen loads to be delivered to the Intel plant and the first of four loads that will exceed 900,000 pounds.
“We see dozens of ‘super loads’ move in Ohio each year,” ODOT Press Secretary Matt Bruning told FreightWaves in an emailed statement. “What we don’t usually see is this many this frequently on the same route. That’s what makes this unique.”
ODOT does not yet have a timeline for when the next three loads will be transported, but Bruning said the hope is to get those done before school starts in August.
ODOT will plot the route and ensure that the load can safely navigate it, taking into account bridge durability under extreme weight and ensuring there’s enough height clearance. The department’s news release states that these extra-large loads will have significant traffic impacts as they move.
“We encourage ALL drivers to plan ahead and avoid these routes when the loads are moving on them,” Burning told FreightWaves. “These largest loads will be much larger than the others that have moved on these routes. They will create significant travel impacts. … We recognize that these loads are a major inconvenience and we will do everything in our power to minimize that inconvenience as much as we can.”
An unnamed private company will do the hauling escorted by several Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers. Local governments and utility companies along the route have partnered with ODOT to remove or adjust large overhead signs, traffic signals and utility lines for the transport.
Moves will start in early morning hours and run through the day. The announcement states that ODOT is anticipating increased interest from the public that will draw large crowds along the route, leading to additional traffic delays.
