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Massive Electric Generators Move Through Hays Streets | News

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Massive Electric Generators Move Through Hays Streets

September 25, 2015

Three massive electric generators made the slow journey from the Hays rail yard near Vine Street to the Goodman Energy Center recently.  

A natural gas generator, weighing 150 tons, is moved from the Hays Rail Yard up Vine St. in Hays on a special 130-foot trailer pulled by a white semi-truck. The generator is covered with a blue tarp.
The generator departs the Hays Rail Yard and travels up Vine St.

The first 150-ton generator made the trip Friday, Sept. 25, just after 8 a.m., with another following on Saturday the 26th and the final engine following on Sunday the 27th.  Pilot vehicles guided the generators up Vine Street and turned west on 27th Street.  On 27th, they travelled to the US-183 bypass and over the I-70 bridge, continuing north on 230th Avenue.  Midwest Energy and other utility crews will raise power and cable lines where needed along the route, to allow the generators to safely pass underneath.

A natural gas generator, weighing 150 tons, is transported on Vine St. in Hays on a specialized trailer pulled by a white semi-truck. The generator is covered with a blue tarp. A Midwest Energy lineman, working from a bucket lift utility truck, raises a traffic signal to allow the generator to pass safely. A Hays Police Department SUV is in the lower right corner providing traffic control as the generator crosses the intersection.
Midwest Energy linemen carefully lift the traffic signal to allow the oversize load to pass underneath at 27th & Vine.

Motorists on those roads during these times were asked to exercise extreme caution near the convoy.  As the convoy moves at just above walking speed, drivers in a hurry were asked to consider alternate routes.

A natural gas generator, weighing 150 tons, is transported over I-70 via Bypass 183 just northwest of Hays. A white semi-truck pulls the massive generator with 130-foot specialized trailer. The trailer is mounted with several outriggers to displace the weight of the generator. Each outrigger can displace 20-tons of weight. The generator is covered with a blue tarp.
Outriggers were mounted to the front and rear of the 130-foot trailer to better distribute the 150-ton load as it traveled over I-70 on US 183 bypass. Each set of outriggers displaced roughly 20 tons.

The generators were manufactured in Europe by Finnish engine maker Wärtsilä.  They arrived at the Port of Houston earlier this month, and traveled to Hays on rail cars.  Valued at nearly $5 million each, they are the centerpiece of the $30 million expansion at the Goodman Energy Center north of Hays, which will see the plant’s capacity grow from 76 megawatts up to 102 megawatts, enough to power more than 15,000 homes.  The expansion should be complete and operational in early 2016