With one super load through town and another coming soon, Emporia City Engineer Jim Ubert says there is a lot of coordination needed to bring a big equipment load through town.
Ubert says all the planning for super load transport begins with a permit process through the Kansas Department of Transportation.
Transportation companies then need to give at least two to three days of advance notice for cities along the route.
Ubert says the city also has conversations with local utilities and Emporia Police — and, in several cases, Lyon County, depending on the situation. The magic height for contacts is 17 feet, 4 inches, because of the height for Emporia’s traffic signal heads.
Ubert’s comments come as a better than 70-yard-long, 660,000-pound boiler moved through Emporia on its way from Oklahoma to California on Tuesday, causing adjustments to several traffic signals and overhead utilities along Kansas Highway 99 — Commercial Street from the south city limits to 12th and Merchant from 12th north past Interstate 35.
The next super load should come through Emporia on Sunday afternoon. Ubert says the next load should be under 17 feet, so the overhead adjustment seen Tuesday won’t be needed.
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Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
