PHOTOS: Million-pound 'superload' begins slow trek in Arkansas with trailer as long as football field

 A 1 million-pound “superload” with a trailer the length of a football field has begun its trek through part of Northwest Arkansas on Thursday, June 29, 2017.
A 1 million-pound “superload” with a trailer the length of a football field has begun its trek through part of Northwest Arkansas on Thursday, June 29, 2017.

TONTITOWN — A 1 million-pound “superload” with a trailer the length of a football field has begun its trek through part of Northwest Arkansas.

The two-day trip is expected to cause traffic delays as the enormous trailer and three trucks — one pulling and two pushing the load — roll along at about 10 mph. The trip will cover 56 miles, transporting a 400,000-pound autotransformer for Southwestern Electric Power Co.

“It’s a hard move,” driver Montana McCarty said. “I mean, we’ve got some really hard obstacles.”

Some of those obstacles include sharp curves on the two-lane, rural Arkansas 112 between Tontitown and Fayetteville.

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Photos by Bill Bowden

The caravan of trucks and Washington County sheriff's vehicles left at about 9 a.m. Thursday and was moving through downtown Tontitown about 40 minutes later. Utility trucks were in the lead in case wires needed to be moved out of the way.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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A map showing the route of Southwestern Electric Power Company's transformer.

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