A 213-foot long, 294-ton “superload” that’s slowly making its way from New York to western Pennsylvania is scheduled to travel through Centre County overnight on Saturday, according to PennDOT
The giant tractor trailer is hauling an empty fuel tank, decommissioned 25 years ago from a D1G Prototype reactor at the U.S. Naval Nuclear Laboratory’s Kenneth A. Kesselring Site in West Milton. The tank is being taken on a 400-mile trek that began on Wednesday to Alaron Nuclear Services in Wampum, Lawrence County, where it will be disassembled and recycled.
Traveling at a top speed of 30 miles per hour and taking up two lanes, the superload will continue traveling west on Friday night on Interstate 80 through Luzerne, Columbia, Montour, Northumberland and Union counties.
The superload is expected to reach the I-80 Loganton rest area early Saturday morning.
At 10 p.m. on Saturday, it will resume traveling west on I-80, moving through Clinton, Centre and Clearfield counties and into Elk County, according to PennDOT
A rolling slowdown using two traffic lanes will result in traffic stoppages and travel delays.
The majority of the transport is occurring overnight. The superload is expected to arrive at its destination on Jan. 21 — though winter weather conditions could cause delays, with snow expected across western and central Pennsylvania on Sunday night and Monday morning.
In total, the superload travel plan includes 16 counties, ramp maneuvers, unusual traffic patterns and slow-moving vehicles, according to PennDOT.
Perkins Specialized Transportation Contracting of Becker, Minnesota, is conducting the transport.
