by Barry Drue
The first of ten 325-ton electric generator engines off-loaded from the cargo ship Palabora in L’Anse has been trucked to the site of a new Upper Michigan Energy Resource Corp. (UMERC) power plant in Negaunee. Under State Police escort the huge generator engine was trucked by Perkins STC transport on Sunday night, June 3, 2018. “They left L’Anse at about 10 p.m. and got to Negaunee early this morning,” said Dan Weingarten, Michigan Department of Transportation Office of Communications, Ishpeming. “We’re permitting them for Sunday through Thursday. There won’t be any hauls on Fridays or Saturdays.” For the hauls to Negaunee Vic’s is using three trucks and a 192-tire dual-trailer assembly with what amounts to a structural cradle in between. The engine rides in the cradle section. The generators are 46 feet long, 20 feet high and more than 17 feet wide. The tall load will necessitate raising of overhead cables and wires in some places. Ten of the Wartsila natural gas-fired Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines (RICE) were shipped from the manufacturing plant in Trieste, Italy, to L’Anse aboard the heavy-lift cargo ship Palabora. The journey took the month of May as the ship arrived at the CertainTeed dock on Thursday afternoon, May 31. A huge crowd of onlookers gathered at the waterfront near the marina to watch two tugs guide the Palabora to the seawall. To read more, subscribe to the L’Anse Sentinel online, or buy a print copy at our local retailers.