Weight a minute! Heavy load makes early start
SPECTATORS watched in awe as an electrical transformer the size of a house arrived in Derbyshire.
The massive piece of machinery arrived at the National Grid’s sub-station in Willington yesterday.
It weighs 178 tonnes, making it about two-and-a-half times as heavy as the Space Shuttle.
Although many spectators watched amazed as the transformer was put in place, it arrived around an hour-and-a-half ahead of schedule, which meant many missed the huge load navigating country lanes around the village. It was due to arrive at 9am but in fact turned up at 7.30am.
That did not stop people getting a glimpse of it, though, as they watched the transformer put into place.
One of those who made his way to Willington was Eamon Murray, from Derby, who helped build Willington Power Station after arriving from Ireland in 1955. He helped build five in total, including one in Castle Donington as well as the power station in Drakelow.
Mr Murray later returned to Willington in a maintenance role until the power station was decommissioned in 1999. His role in Willington involved moving huge turbines into place to generate the electricity.
The 88-year-old said: “It’s great to see this as I worked for years at the power station. I was a little disappointed to miss it coming through but it was worth the trip from Derby just to see this.”
Kevin Gent, who used to live in Willington, but has now moved to Stretton, came to see the transporter arriving with his daughters Bethany, nine, and Katie, four.
The sisters said they really enjoyed seeing it be moved.
He said: “We missed it coming through Willington as we got here at 9am and it had come through the gates. We couldn’t believe it, you don’t see many abnormal loads around here.”
Craig Whitehurst, the National Grid site engineer, said it arrived ahead of schedule and the load was 73.67m long. The vehicle transporting it was 120 tonnes, making the total weight 298 tonnes. He said: “We’ve had quite a lot of members of the public coming up the road to come to have a look. The National Grid did a mail drop to residents letting them know it was coming through this morning.”
The transformer left Goole Docks at 2pm on Friday as it set off on the 76-mile journey to Derbyshire at around 12mph. It arrived with a police escort.