Moving marathon

Still lacking sleep from Wednesday night’s super lunar phenomenon, hundreds of West Gippslanders turned their night eyes to a 650 tonne super load crawling along the Princes Hwy on Thursday night.

Hundreds of people lined the route on night one of the slow journey to deliver the 650 tonne generator from Loy Yang to Port Melbourne.

At more than 108 metres long, 6.5 metres wide and five metres wide, the convoy of trucks crawled along at an average 20 kilometres per hour, giving onlookers plenty of time to admire the massive transport effort.

There was plenty of wow factor for the crowds of people that gathered at clear vantage points in towns including Trafalgar and Yarragon and then at overhead bridge vantage points along its first night enroute to Officer.

Sand Rd, Longwarry proved a popular viewing point during the early hours of Friday morning where precise planning was put into place for the super load to negotiate the intersection.

A Vic Roads crew was on hand throughout the journey, assisting to get the vehicle safely around corners, temporarily removing signage and lights, placing steel supports over existing drainage and then putting everything back in place once the vehicle had passed.

The generator was hauled in an operation spanning three nights to reduce the impact on the road network and alleviate congestion for drivers.

The size of the load was compared to transporting a jumbo jet along the road.

It was so big, vehicles were unable to overtake, which led to significant delays and congestion along the side of roads where community members tried to get the best view.

VicRoads Director of Heavy Vehicle Services Eric Henderson said it was a complex operation that was monitored every step of the way.

The final leg of the journey saw the generator arrive in Port Melbourne early Sunday morning where it was loaded onto a cargo ship.

The generator is a spare component of the larger power unit and was taken offline at Loy Yang in October last year.

It is being shipped to Germany for maintenance and will be brought back into operation later this year.

Precise planning went into the logistics of transporting the generator from Loy Yang to Port Melbourne and one of the more difficult areas to negotiate was Sand Rd at Longwarry. Barry Park of Warragul captured the super load as it travelled through the...