By Kyra Gillespie
Traffic was brought to a halt over the weekend when an enormous 558 tonne load passed through Officer on its way to the Latrobe Valley.
The first leg of the journey saw the convoy travel at 10pm from Port Melbourne to Officer on the night of Saturday 26 May, weaving its way through Melbourne’s South-East through Beaconsfield Parade, and then along the Princes Highway through Dandenong and Fountain Gate.
The second leg took place between 10pm on Sunday 27 May and 5am Monday 28 May, with the convoy making its way from Officer along the Princes Freeway to get to Yarragon.
VicRoads said the operation was a “very time conscious and complex operation” due to the sheer size and weight of the load, which measured more than 100 metres from end to end – bigger than an Airbus A380, or longer than two Olympic sizes swimming pools.
It weighed the equivalent of 93 elephants.
The load leaves on the last leg of the journey tonight at 10pm along the Princes Freeway then onto Yinnar-Driffield Road and Hazelwood Road in Hazelwood to reach Loy Yang B, where it is expected to arrive around 3am.
