Thunder Bay motorists are being asked to exercise patience early next week when three 60-tonne pieces of cargo will be transported through the city.
Three cylindrical pieces of a mill unit, each 7.28 metres in diameter, four metres high and weighing 60 tonnes, were unloaded from a ship arriving from Spain at Keefer Terminal Friday morning. The mill unit is headed for Lake Shore Gold Corp.’s Timmins’ operation.
Friday the pieces were being loaded and secured onto trucks, but Monday morning at 8:30 a.m. Don Anderson Hauling Ltd. will depart from Keefer Terminal and head down the Harbour Expressway and then onto Hwy 11/17 where traffic delays are expected.
Westbound traffic will be closed while the convoy moves through and eastbound traffic will move at reduced speeds.
The trucks have to travel during the daylight hours for safety reasons and will be escorted by the OPP.
“Just have patience and wait for us to get off the road and (drivers) can carry on,” said Scott Wilkinson, a driver with Don Anderson Hauling. “Just have an eye and when they see the officers out front, just be forewarned we are coming.”
Wilkinson said the size of the cargo isn’t anything new for the hauling company. It’s comparable to anything else they haul.
Thunder Bay Port Authority harbor master Guy Jarvis said they’re pleased they can serve the mining industry and hopes other companies take notice.
“This shipment is basically showing the capabilities of our port and the seaway to accept large dimensional units,” he said. “These are the types of shipments we’ve been marketing and trying to get for het last three or four years.”
The port has already successfully moved windmills earlier this year and Jarvis said they anticipate a couple more large shipments in the next few weeks.
He said he hopes these shipments help prove Thunder Bay is the preferred port of choice in the centre of Canada.
The convey is expected to arrive in Nipigon on Monday at 11 a.m. and be in Timmins by Thursday.
To track the transport of the mill unit and the subsequent traffic delays visit www.millmove.ca or call 1-888-526-5473.
