NEW ALBANY, Ohio (WCMH) -- This was the year of the super load, with more than two dozen enormous transports crossing county lines to reach growing tech facilities, particularly New Albany's Intel plant.
Initially announced as just under two dozen super loads, 2024 ended up seeing 32 of the massive transports, starting in March and continuing through December. In total, more than 11 million pounds of goods were transported.
Each super load began its journey into Ohio the same way, unloading from a barge along the Ohio River in Adams County and traveling around Columbus and into Licking County. Four of the first five super loads diverged from the pack, carting shipments to Freepoint Eco-Systems recycling facility near Hebron. The rest moved to New Albany to help build Ohio's "Silicon Heartland" from the ground up.
Although all of the super loads were -- true to their name -- enormous transports, four stood out as "extra-large" super loads, beginning their journeys June 25, July 8, July 24 and Aug. 13, respectively. These carried air processors known as cold boxes, which are used in Intel's silicon chip manufacturing process. The sheer size of the cold boxes led to massive transports, tipping the scales around 916,000 pounds a piece.
Other shipments included other various air processors, tanks, absorbers and receivers, which are all used in semiconductor manufacturing. The more recent transports have been smaller and therefore less disruptive to traffic. The last super load began its journey Dec. 10 and arrived at New Albany on Dec. 15. It carried machinery called a warm gas pipe skid, crossed through eight Ohio counties and weighted 469,284 pounds.
It takes these super loads days to cross what would take a typical car around 2.5 hours, but the Ohio Department of Transportation said it's for good reason. The hauls are so large that the shipments must move slowly, and the drivers are only able to drive so many hours each day without sleeping. According to ODOT, using the same drivers is important, as they are already familiar with the route and can help speed things along.
The super loads are also not able to be moved at night due to safety concerns. ODOT also said limiting the drives to weekends alone would turn what is now typically a two-week drive into a four month drive for each load, extending the project by years. ODOT does collaborate with local towns and cities to ensure the loads are not scheduled during high-traffic events.
