Thursday afternoon a “super-load” traveled through Marshall County on US 30 on its way to Lima, Ohio.
There was a slight detour in Plymouth because the load was too tall to pass under the US 31 overpass. They actually exited US 30 south bound on the US 31 blocking north and south bound traffic. At the crossover at 9A Road they drove into the north bound lanes and unhooked the trucks at both ends and switched them and then used the north bound exit ramp to get back on to US 30.
Michiana Contracting had the job of raising traffic signals along the route. This specialized trucking operation is 265 foot long, 19 feet high, 16 feet wide and weighs about 320 tons. There are 20 axels including the two trucks, one at the front and one at the back. That’s 156 tires!
The bubble tower, commonly called a scrubber, is part of the process to separate kerosene, diesel fuel grades, waste products and finally to a gas product. The fluid, crude oil, is pumped to the top of the bubble tower and zig zags its way down to the bottom through multiple filters and scrubbers which separate the different products out.
Mike Delp, working for Michiana Contracting said he was told this is a new processing addition to an existing plant in Lima. This will be the third bubble tower at the site.
Michiana Contracting will have $12,000 to $15,000 in this transport as it takes several trucks and men to accomplish the task.
Delp guesstimated the transportation company, Barnhart’s final bill to be in the millions when including all cost, barge, unload at port, trucking, state police, permits, utilities, and unloading.
