Second `super load' heading toward central Ohio
COLUMBUS – One week after the first “super load” headed out from Adams County, an identical second is due to follow the same route later this week.
The Ohio Department of Transportation and Ohio State Highway Patrol will escort the second large load beginning Thursday, March 14. It is scheduled to depart the same dock east of Manchester around 8 a.m.
Like the first load, this one weighs 390,000 pounds, is 18’3” tall, 18’6” wide, and 200’ long and will be delivered to Hebron. It is not related to the Intel plant being built in Licking County.
Due to St. Patrick’s Day, the city of Columbus will not allow the load to move through the city on Sunday, March 17, so it will remain at Rickenbacker Airport until Saturday, March 23. It is scheduled to reach Hebron on Monday, March 25.
This is the second of nearly two dozen scheduled to move over the next several months. The largest loads will tip the scales at 900,000 pounds, 19 feet wide, 24 feet high, and 270 feet long. Each oversized and overweight load will take approximately 8-15 days to reach its destination.
While no official closures or detours are planned, slow-rolling roadblocks will be necessary during transit, and drivers should plan ahead for long delays along the route.
The Ohio Department of Transportation has carefully analyzed and planned the route to make sure these super loads can be accommodated. Since each load will be escorted by several Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers, emergency traffic will get around the rolling roadblock with minimal delay.
Working with partners like local governments and utility companies, obstructions along the route such as large overhead signs, traffic signals, and utility lines have been adjusted and moved, ODOT said via a news release.
The schedule of each of these loads will be checked against local events, like festivals and fairs, to further minimize impacts.
Notifications will be made in advance of each load leaving the dock on the Ohio River near the village of Manchester in Adams County. Updates will be provided as each load moves north toward central Ohio.