Progress Energy equipment on the move this weekend
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 18, 2011 1:46 PM
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Wayne County residents can expect trucks like this one to be motoring through town this weekend and next week as Progress Energy starts bringing in new equipment for its soon-to-be-completed plant.
Motorists who will be traveling along several southern Wayne County roads, including U.S. 117 and U.S. 13, this Saturday and Tuesday need to be prepared to take alternate routes or face possible long delays as Progress Energy begins moving equipment to its new plant construction site near the existing power plant west of Goldsboro at the Neuse River.
The equipment, weighing up to 325 tons, will be transported on rigs as long as 110 feet, as wide as 20 feet and with as many as 18 axles.
The rigs move slowly, about 3 to 9 mph, and the hauls will begin at daybreak.
The equipment will be offloaded at the rail siding at the Georgia-Pacific facility on the Old Mount Olive Highway at Dudley.
The 12.2-mile route will take the rigs west on Sleepy Creek Road, north on U.S. 117, west on U.S. 13, north on Providence Church Road, west on Old Grantham Road and north on Black Jack Church Road, ending at the construction site.
The return trip will be the reverse of that route and should move a little quicker.
State Department of Transportation rules require that the moves be made during daylight hours Monday through Saturday.
Wayne County sheriff's deputies and the Highway Patrol will be involved in traffic control during the moves.
The equipment moving Saturday and Tuesday are two of about 50 that will make the journey over the next few months. Major equipment for the site includes combustion turbines, steam generators, electrical generators and transformers.
The rigs used for most of the moves will take up only one lane, which may allow traffic to pass at some points along the route. But some of the larger equipment will require rigs that span more than one lane, making it impossible for traffic to pass, even on four-lane divided roads. The N.C. Highway Patrol will determine when it is safe for vehicles to pass.