MDOT SHA and MSP Assisting BGE with Overnight Move Through Riverside, Fallston

 

(October 6, 2017) -  Area agencies are gearing up for an overnight move of a new BGE transformer across Harford County early next week. The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (MDOT SHA), the Maryland State Police (MSP) and Harford County Government agencies are assisting BGE’s private contractor Riggers, Inc. of Richmond, Va., with an oversized vehicle transport. 

 

A convoy is scheduled to start at 10 p.m. Monday night and end at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning, October 10. A special oversized vehicle will haul a 337,000-pound transformer from Riverside Industrial Park to BGE’s substation on Harford Road. 

 

A convoy composed of MSP, MDOT SHA, the oversized vehicle and a support crew from Riggers, Inc. will leave Riverside Industrial Park on Brass Mill Road, and proceed at approximately 20 mph on the hauling route: Southbound MD 7 (Philadelphia Road) to westbound MD 152 (Mountain Road) and southbound MD 147 (Harford Road) to the BGE substation. The convoy will travel across six bridges, and will reduce speed to 5 mph at each bridge crossing.  The convoy team will maintain access to homes and businesses on the route as the slow-moving vehicles proceed along the hauling route.

 

The total gross vehicle weight of the transformer and transport vehicle is approximately 584,000 pounds.  The vehicle is approximately 16.5 feet high, 11 feet wide and 165 feet long. Due to the weight of the load, SHA engineers determined that the MD 7 bridge over the Haha Branch of the Bush River will require temporary additional structural support designed to protect the bridge from damage. At approximately 10 p.m., MSP and SHA will temporarily close the MD 7 bridge over the Haha Branch to both northbound and southbound traffic until 5 a.m. This will allow a crew to install a jumper bridge for the crossing, allow the convoy to pass over the Haha Branch, and then allow the crew to dismantle and remove the jumper bridge.  The convoy will continue along the hauling route while the jumper bridge is dismantled and removed.  

 

During the temporary bridge closure, all through travelers on MD 7 between MD 543 (Riverside Parkway) and MD 24 (Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway) may use either I-95 (John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway) or US 40 (Pulaski Highway) as alternative routes. There will be no detour needed on MD 152; however, drivers traveling on MD 152 may be temporarily stopped by MSP so the convoy may pass by. The convoy should arrive at the BGE substation by 5 a.m.  In case of inclement weather October 9, the convoy will travel on the next possible night.

 

MDOT SHA advises motorists to avoid the hauling route during the overnight move and to plan ahead for temporary traffic stoppages, road and bridge closures, and temporary detours. BGE is paying all costs associated with hauling the transformer and is supported by the participating agencies.