A transformer will be passing through Harford County in the near future and this one is no toy. Weighing in at 481,000 pounds and belonging to Exelon Corporation, the first of seven new transformers bound for the company’s Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Delta, PA will be hauled on Harford County roads over six nights, beginning sometime in late July.
A 16-foot-wide trailer carrying the transformer will have a 27-foot-high load, resulting in a total shipping weight of 831,724 pounds that will roll along at the snail-like pace of 3 to 5 mph. The trailer will be accompanied by a motor escort composed of law enforcement vehicles, road construction crews and utility trucks. The entire road trip is expected to take one week, including the six nights in Harford County and one day in Pennsylvania. An exact starting date has not been set by the company.
An Exelon Nuclear spokesperson told The Dagger that preparations for the trip have already begun, which will include the reinforcement of Deer Creek and Broad Creek bridges, the movement of some utility lines and tree trimming along the route. The company also warns area residents to expect road closures, detours and possible delays. More details are expected later this week.
The transformer coming through Harford County was manufactured in Korea and will be shipped to Philadelphia, then barged to Havre de Grace where it will be driven a total of 30 miles to Peach Bottom. The route over land will begin in Havre de Grace at Baker Road and MD Rt. 155, proceed West on Rt. 155 to MD Rt. 22 West before turning North onto MD Rt. 136 and on to MD Rt. 165 North through the Pennsylvania line. According to a company newsletter detailing the plan, the route was the “most technically and economically feasible” and was designed by transportation experts and approved by state regulators and local governments.
The move is part of an $87 million transformer replacement project planned by Exelon to upgrade a total of six main power transformers (plus one spare) as part of the company’s regular maintenance of the nuclear power plant at Peach Bottom. The main power transformers increase the voltage of electricity that is generated before it is sent to the power grid. The entire transformer replacement project is expected to take three years to complete.
Here is the full Exelon newsletter:
Whats wrong with this picture? 87 million dollars spent on transformers built a half a world away in Korea. I do not care what the reason was for this but in hard economic times Americans should’ve built these transformers!
Del. Riley –
Let me point out the obvious that the transformer order occurred during a positive economic period.
We live in a global economy where the U.S. has become less competitive and our state and federal governments make it unattractive for U.S. based heavy manufacturing. Until folks like you get your head out of your hind quarters or we replace you it is unlikely that Maryland or the U.S. will regain or grow its manufacturing base.
So Del. Riley with your glowing environmental voting record what have you done?
Joe
Mr. Caruso,
My environmental record speaks for itself as does my record of trying to keep jobs in Maryland and the USA.
Your mature approach to the issues proves to be very interesting.
Del. Riley –
What jobs have you successfully brought to Maryland? How many of those jobs were in manufacturing?
Maturity is relative kind sir. You made a disingenuous “populist” post about how sad it was that the $87 Million transformer was not built in the USA. I called you on it because you deserved to be called on it.
How dare you make a self-serving statement as you did without doing even a modicum of research on who in the nation bid on the transformer project or could have?
Joe
The press release says that there are no US companies that make this type of transformer. Since we have been unable to build new nuke plants in recent decades due to NIMBY pressures and overzealous environmetnal alarmists, there probably isn’t much of a domestic demand. ITAR rules probably prohibit export of the technology anyway, so a company couldn’t build them here and then export them.
So if you want the US to get back in the big nuclear plant transformer business, convince Congress and the President to encourage clean, efficient nuclear power and relax unnecessary export restrictions.
I’am sure the record’s will show that most, if not all the metal used was imported from the U.S. no doubt bought and payed for a least twice. then of course there is the labor factor. cheaper to produce in korea.
Until it’s time to transport. be American buy American.
Most of these transformers are designed in the USA and engineered here, but is cheaper to produce them overseas due to overzealous unions, high business taxes, our own lack of expert workers that can’t read, write or do math when out of high schools, and some cases colleges, and tight nuclear energy regulation.
The machining that built the transformers came from America, but we are losing our manufacturing base to the point that we no longer build things, we just assemble them once completed in other, (mainly Asian) countries.
The same thing happened when the Port of Baltimore installed new automatic cranes that were built in Japan and paid for with $$$$ to haul imports to our country. Box rail cars and metro trains? they are also built someplace else and then shipped here.
All our kids go to school to be lawyers, liberal arts students and most of our science colleges are full of foreign students that contributes to the brain drain in our economy. My son attends a prominent east coast school studying MATH and 80% of the students in his major are foreign. We as a country, are doing very little to have kids major in sciences and math. How about having grants and low cost loans for kids to major in these national security occupations?
Dan…how many millions……..
Tool Up !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Go Dagger.
Exelon held a press briefing yesterday and updated the time of the transport for Monday night. Here’s an excerpt from the update along with the response to a question from The Dag about where the transformer will be kept during the daytime hours:
…the transport is beginning on the evening of Monday, July 27 at 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. All other nights will take place from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. It will enter Pennsylvania on Aug. 3 during the day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The transportation route has not changed.
During the day, the transformer will sit at pre-determined staging areas along the route. Because of security reasons, we are not disclosing those areas.