The final journey

By Kyle McClellan The Western News

A procession of law enforcement and support vehicles escorted the massive Libby Dam spare transformer north along Highway 37 Thursday during its final journey to the dam.

About 20 to 25 onlookers watched and snapped photographs as two Kenworth T800 trucks, one pulling and one pushing, hauled the 173-ton transformer around a right turn at California Avenue and Second Street downtown.

The turn itself lasted almost 30 minutes.

The transformer sat on a custom-built suspension trailer supported by 96 semi-trailer-size wheels. The transformer, suspension trailer and trucks, a total weight of 300 tons, rumbled across the Kootenai River bridge at about 12 mph.

The suspension trailer was custom built by Omega-Morgan Rigging and Industrial Contracting, a subsidiary of Morgan Machinery, which is based in Portland, Ore.

The trip took about six hours.

"It went very well," said Omega-Morgan dispatcher Chris Charniak.

The Kenworth trucks were powered by "super heavy duty" engines with 18-speed primary transmissions and 4-speed auxiliary transmissions.

"That's how you get 300 tons moving," Charniak said.

Workers walked alongside the trailer, adjusting it with remote-controlled hydraulic steering systems.

Earlier Thursday afternoon at the dam, the fourth transformer bay sat empty at the far end of "transformer alley", a narrow, high-voltage concrete corridor buzzing with the audible hum of more than 600,000 kilowatts.

Once online, the new transformer will be ready to operate almost immediately if another fails. Without a spare, the replacement process for a failed transformer takes up to two years. During that time, the dam would likely need to release water through the spillway.

Water cascading down the spillway, though providing for spectacular photo opportunities, disrupts natural ecology by harming fish and infusing the river with dissolved gasses.