880,000 lb stator coming through Greenwood

[wbarnhill]

at five mph... I can't imagine all the routing and work that goes into getting this thing up to the plant.

http://www.shelbystar.com/articles/windowtext-42684-span-feet.html

Its orange metal hulk is surrounded by a police escort and stops, sometimes for days or weeks at a time, only to move on again at its 5 to 20 mph snail’s pace once power lines and other things in its way are moved.
The monster is now camped out just outside Greenwood, S.C., and should arrive in Cliffside in late November or early December, officials say.
The beast is an 880,000 pound part of an electric generator that will eventually end up at Duke Energy’s Cliffside Steam Station’s new unit six.

Today it's moving through Greenwood and stopping on the north side for the night, before making the trek up Hwy 25 on Thursday (which is why I'm not going to Greenville on Thursday. )

 

[rpadula]

Is there a slow-moving TFR over that thing?

 

[Steve]

The local power plant here is considering a power upgrade of its generator. It would involve rewinding the generator and a similar move would be likely, although it would only be a couple of miles to the river where it would be loaded on a barge for the trip to the vendor.

 

[wbarnhill]

Is there a slow-moving TFR over that thing?

TDR more like it... I have a feeling if you're traveling northbound and end up behind it, you're going to need to find an alternate route asap. I'm just surprised it makes it over bridges without a problem. Amazing stuff.

 

[Keith Lane]

You could put in on one of these.....
20 axle depressed center span bolster car. Adjustable center section up - down 22 inches and left - right 28 inches.The empty weight is 505,000 Lbs.

 

[Lawreston]

On a minute scale to this story, Bath Iron works - Shipbuilder would have occasion to take delivery of very large components -- turbines?? -- for a ship. Rather than getting shipped via highway said item(s) would arrive at Naval Air Station Brunswick via C-5A. Then a transfer would be made to Bath -- 7 or 8 miles -- via railroad carriage.

HR

 

[wbarnhill]

You could put in on one of these.....
20 axle depressed center span bolster car. Adjustable center section up - down 22 inches and left - right 28 inches.The empty weight is 505,000 Lbs.

I do wonder why the decision was made to go by truck... Unless the rail path was less suited than even the roads.

 

[Keith Lane]

I do wonder why the decision was made to go by truck... Unless the rail path was less suited than even the roads.

Dunno....
Could be a width issue in a tunnel/bridge. CSX was slated to move a 1 million pound gas turbine from Port Charleston to Atlanta, and spent 3 months clearing trees from the right of way. The load shifted at the port and fell over on it's side. The freight charges were reportedly going to be in excess of $1 million for that one trip. After the thing fell over, they were glad it happened in the port and not on the railroad. They may be skittish about these million plus pound loads right now.
There are whole departments at the railroads that deal only with determining clearances along an intended load's path. Meeting trains on adjacent tracks in curves are a big concern as well as tunnels and bridges. Traffic all along the road has to be scheduled and special movement orders cut in order to ensure there aren't any collisions.

 

[NC Pilot]

Dunno....
Could be a width issue in a tunnel/bridge. CSX was slated to move a 1 million pound gas turbine from Port Charleston to Atlanta, and spent 3 months clearing trees from the right of way. The load shifted at the port and fell over on it's side. The freight charges were reportedly going to be in excess of $1 million for that one trip. After the thing fell over, they were glad it happened in the port and not on the railroad. They may be skittish about these million plus pound loads right now.
There are whole departments at the railroads that deal only with determining clearances along an intended load's path. Meeting trains on adjacent tracks in curves are a big concern as well as tunnels and bridges. Traffic all along the road has to be scheduled and special movement orders cut in order to ensure there aren't any collisions.

The preferred shipping methods for generators is barge, rail, road in that order. Don't know why this one would ship by road other than some very smart people looked at the options and decided it was best to block traffic for a while.

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

I do wonder why the decision was made to go by truck... Unless the rail path was less suited than even the roads.

Clearances probably not wide enough....