A ‘superload’ has started its long, slow journey through parts of Victoria and motorists have been warned to expect traffic delays as it makes its 224km trek.
The name is given to an oversized truck with a permit to carry a mass of 250 tonnes or more, and it takes up to six months of significant planning to prepare for a superload journey.
The massive 370-tonne, 78m long superload left the Port of Geelong on Sunday at 11pm, to start its two-day, 224km journey to Tarrone.
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The superload powers along at an average speed of 40km/h to 60km/h and, due to its sheer size, is very difficult to pass.
It is about 4.5m wide, where as a standard truck width is 2.6m and a traffic lane is 3.3 to 3.5m.
The superload travelled all night on Sunday before parking in Cobden at 5am and will continue on from 11pm on Monday.
It is expected to arrive at Tarrone Terminal early on Tuesday morning.
Roads that will be impacted by the superload’s journey include Cox Rd, Anakie Rd, Geelong Ring Rd, Princes Hwy, Cobden-Warrnamnool Rd and Zeigler Pde.
While the superload can travel at speeds up to 60km/h, there will be times it will need to go over bridges and around corners, causing it to slow to 5km/h.
“We will have traffic management officers and load escorts travelling with superload for the entire journey, making sure your roads are safe during and after the move,” Regional Roads Victoria said in a statement.
“They’ll be helping to manoeuvre the vehicle safely around corners, temporarily removing signage and lights and placing steel supports over existing drainage, and then putting everything back in place once the superload has passed through.”
In July of last year, a 390-tonne superload that was 90m long travelled for five days from Glen Waverley to South Australia.
Then in August 2019, another superload — this time 372 tonnes and 82m long — travelled between Glen Waverley and the Dundonnell Wind Farm in western Victoria.
In June 2020, another superload that was a huge 100m in length and weighed more than 640 tonnes carried an electrical component from Webb Dock in Port Melbourne to the Loy Yang B Power station.