UPDATE 3pm:
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WHEN in operation, it will help power 220,000 Victorian homes every year. But Wimmera residents have already found the Murra Warra Wind Farm transformer pretty impressive.
The transformer – combined with the trailer carrying it and the three prime movers required to move it –became a Superload weighing 320 tonnes.
Near the end of its 40-hour long journey, which began in the eastern Melbourne suburb of Glen Waverley, the massive structure made it to Horsham at 1.45pm.
Stretching nearly 59 metres in length, 4.5 metres wide and 5.5 metres high, it reached a top speed of 20 kilometres an hour. Not the speeds worthy of a Grand Prix, perhaps, but the spectacle nonetheless drew a crowd.
Dozens of people lined McPherson and Baillie streets to watch the convoy make its way through the city, armed with camera phones.
Steve Greer, who lived nearby, said he wasn’t disappointed after all the hype.
“They said it would need a few trucks to get along, and they weren’t lying. It was worth coming out to have a look, not everyday you see that,” he said.
St Brigid’s College Year 12 student Kayetlan Harris was at the Victoria Hotel as part of a project for her small business subject at school when the load passed.
“It had been on Facebook a lot, but we didn’t know what time it was going to come past, so just luck of the draw. It’s just amazing how much it weighs,” she said.
UPDATE, 12.20pm
Horsham Highway Patrol’s Mick Ryan said the Superload is expected to make it to Horsham at about 1.15pm.
UPDATE, 10.25am
Stawell residents lined up along the Western Highway with cameras in hand to watch the Superload pass through the town, continuing its way to Horsham.
It stopped at Stawell on the highway for an early lunch break.
UPDATE, 9am
The Superload passed through Ararat shortly after 9am on Monday morning. It is expected to reach Stawell at around 10am.
Earlier
People who set their alarms early to catch a glimpse of the giant Superload this morning need not have worried about it.
The 320 tonne, 70-metre-long Superload passed through Ballarat hours ahead of schedule, leaving many people wondering where it was.
A VicRoads press release issued at 1.35pm on Monday said the giant haulage would depart Bungaree at 7am today.
However, by the time 7am rolled around, the operation had already reached as far Trawalla, near Beaufort.
At 7.30am, The Courier spoke to people waiting at the Creswick Road overpass to see it drive through, only to break the news to them the Superload was long gone.
The transformer is essential to the operation of the Murra Warra Wind Farm and is due to arrive there around 4pm.
It is expected to pass through Horsham about 2pm.