This super-wide load will close part of I-24 on Sunday

Transformer for Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Facility will have to cross the Interstate's median

In this 2013 file photo, Edwards Moving and Rigging facilitates the move of a TVA transformer, approximately a 500,000 pound load, along the interstate and up to the Raccoon Mountain plant site.
In this 2013 file photo, Edwards Moving and Rigging facilitates the move of a TVA transformer, approximately a 500,000 pound load, along the interstate and up to the Raccoon Mountain plant site.
photo In this 2013 file photo, Mike Oldham, gold hover operator, directs the truck with a joystick system as Edwards Moving and Rigging facilitates the move of a TVA transformer, approximately a 500,000 pound load, along the interstate and up to the Raccoon Mountain plant site on Sunday in Chattanooga, Tenn. Project manager Chuck Goddard said the transport took six months of planning.
photo In this 2013 file photo, Allen Lockard and James Gore of Cumberland Guard Rail replace rails moved temporarily so that Edwards Moving and Rigging could facilitate the move of a TVA transformer, approximately a 500,000 pound load, along the interstate and up to the Raccoon Mountain plant site on Sunday in Chattanooga, Tenn. Project manager Chuck Goddard said the transport took six months of planning.

Talk about a wide load.

A TVA transformer destined for Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Facility is so big that workers will have to shut down part of the Interstate and cross the median in order to reach the unusual power facility, which pumps water into a mountain reservoir at night and lets gravity drain the water out through giant turbines during the day when demand is high.

The large TVA transformer, which weighs about 500,000 pounds, can't get to to the Raccoon Mountain facility the normal way. Instead, workers will have to close the inside lane on I-24 East and West at mile marker 174, remove the cable guardrails and construct a median crossover.

Then, the 250-ton load will be slowly moved from the eastbound Interstate across to the Westbound Interstate, and from there to U.S. 41 at the Tiftonia exit, and then onto the pumped storage facility.

Traffic on U.S. 41 will also be affected as the heavy load, transported by Edwards Moving & Rigging, is slowly brought to its final destination.

The Tennessee Department of Transportation and Hamilton County Sheriff deputies will pace cars during the move, and afterwards while workers remove the median crossover and restore the cable guardrail.

The closure will begin at 7 a.m. Sunday and last until noon at the latest, according to a news release.

photo In this 2013 file photo, Edwards Moving and Rigging workers navigate a TVA transformer, approximately a 500,000 pound load, over a median and up to the Raccoon Mountain plant site on Sunday in Chattanooga, Tenn. Project manager Chuck Goddard said the transport took six months of planning.

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