Transporting heavy loads is nothing new for Barnhart, but a recent multi-state job was nearly one for the record books. Barnhart was hired to transport an energy tower, also known as a deisobutanizer, to a refinery in Superior, Wisconsin. The journey started in Oklahoma City, where the tower had been fabricated and insulated.
Two cranes loaded the tower onto a 6 and 10-line EasTrac. When the pull and push truck were added, the entire convoy was 280’ long. The rig had 24 total axles, 156 tires and weighed nearly 700,000 lbs.
The vehicles and crew of 17, which included police escorts and bucket trucks, left Oklahoma City in late October. The trip to Superior was more than 1600 miles and wound through six states. The convoy could only travel at a maximum speed of 35 mph on a route that was mostly two-lane roads.
The 280-foot-long convoy drew many onlookers. A local school brought their students outside to watch it pass through. The load finally arrived at the refinery after a trip of 16 days and the tower was offloaded. Once assembled, the tower stood 200 feet tall and weighed 130 tons. The haul was the second largest load ever to enter the state.