A 1.8 million pound, 412-feet long transformer will be rolling through Arizona on Friday, October 30th.
According to the Arizona Department of Transportation, four law enforcement escorts will be traveling with the load in order to keep traffic flowing.
The transformer will make its way from the Arizona/New Mexico state line to its destination in Utah by traveling on US 64 west to US 160 and finally BIA-12 (formerly US 191). It will reach its destination in Utah on Saturday. The oversize load will be traveling at an average speed of 12 miles-per-hour.
ADOT Transportation Engineer Chris Pippin said that it isn’t the the biggest load to ever travel in the state, but “it is one of the heaviest transformers that have been moved on our state highways.”
The transformer has been on a long journey; it was manufactured in China, shipped to Houston, and then traveled by train to New Mexico, where it was picked up by the transporting company.
If you happen to avoid the massive traffic congestion caused by this oversize load on Friday, don’t worry, because you’ll get another chance at it. A second transformer will be transported along a similar route in Arizona just two weeks later, on November 14th.