The Wyoming Department of Transportation is warning drivers of a series of slow-moving superloads along I-80 planned for the rest of the summer as a massive wind power installation continues to take shape in Medicine Bow.
The most recent such load, originally scheduled to move on August 7 last week, got held up for repairs through to August 9, and brought traffic from Laramie to Medicine Bow to a crawl with a top speed of around 25-30 mph. The load’s speed drops to 5 mph when crossing bridges.
“I believe they have three more” superloads to haul westbound on I-80, said Andrea Staley, a spokesperson for Wyoming DOT. Wyoming DOT officials don’t get more than 24 hours notice of the moves, and encourage drivers to check District 1’s Facebook page or to contact the state DOT directly.
“They leave from Laramine around mile marker 313 to about the Arlington area, about 40 miles, and then they get off at Arlington and take Highway 13 up to Rock River and then Highway 30 to Medicine Bow,” Staley noted.
The loads pass through “about every ten days,” she said. Of course, there’s always a return trip. “They have to take the transport back into Laramie because they have transformers coming in off the rail.”
The run’s slowest movements occur over bridge spans at as low as 5 mph.WYDOT
Wyoming DOT posted a video explaining the moves, noting the series of loads, the largest of which “are 385 feet long, 26 feet wide and weigh 1.5 million pounds,” would pass through this summer, according to spokesperson Doug McGee in the video.
That length and weight could put these windfarm transformers in contention for some of the heaviest moves made all year long, some of which the Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association recognizes in its annual “Hauling Jobs of the Year” proceedings for complexity and execution. In 2022, for instance, the largest load there was moved was a 250′ tall, 190′ long and 150′ wide furnace that weighed in at around nine million pounds.
So look out for slow moving traffic this season and watch the video from WYDOT below if you’re curious. Of course, big hauls can often mean big money, too. If you’re curious about avenues into the heavy hauling game, read here or browse through more in our Niche Hauls collection.
[Related: Big loads, big equipment, big pay: Heavy/specialized hauling explored]