From Winthrop to Wylie, traffic delays on some roads this week. Here’s what to avoid.
The transport of massive pieces of equipment will lead to lengthy traffic delays on some roads heading out of Rock Hill this week.
Duke Energy has three low-pressure turbines to move from a Rock Hill rail yard to Catawba Nuclear Station in Lake Wylie. Each 184-ton turbine will travel by trailer on area roads. The first will be moved March 16. The current schedule has one moving each of the following two days.
A route was picked to lessen the traffic delays, but there still will be an impact.
The full route begins at Winthrop University on Alumni Drive, in Rock Hill. It runs on Cherry Road to Heckle Boulevard, then to Old York Road. Trailers will then travel onto S.C. 274 as they head to Lake Wylie, then onto Concord Road to access the nuclear station.
The southbound lane of the S.C. 274 bridge over Allison Creek will close for three to four hours each transport day. The full 14-mile route will take six to eight hours for the trailers carrying turbines. Drivers are encouraged to find alternate routes.
Scheduling for the move still could change depending on weather.
The turbines will be installed at the station during a planned refueling outage this spring. The 154-foot long, 15-foot wide truckloads are more than 16 feet high.
South Carolina Highway Patrol will escort the trucks, which will travel no more than 30 mph. Where roads are wide enough, some passing will be allowed. In other places, like the Allison Creek bridge, flaggers will be in place to assist traffic.
Catawba Nuclear replaces turbines as maintenance requires. Unit 1 turbines at the nuclear station were replaced in spring 2020. The nuclear station twice trucked in turbines, in early winter and summer, last year. The turbines each cost $68.5 million.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 9:52 AM.
