Massive 663 tonne transformer Superload in Geelong, Victoria

On the 7th January 2019 a massive operation commenced to transport a 663 tonne electricity transformer throughout western Victoria. Unloaded from a ship at Corio Quay in Geelong, the transformer is destined for a wind farm project near Lismore, and is one of the heaviest Superloads hauled in Victoria in recent years.
In this video on the early hours of January 8th we see the Superload at the intersection of the Princess Highway and St Georges Road/Cox Road in Geelong where an excited crowd had gathered to see the mammoth load; hauled by three Lampson trucks on special heavy haulage trailers.
The load is 115 metres long, 5.12 metres wide and 5.5 metres tall and can only be hauled at a maximum speed of 20km/h. The whole operation took months of planning by VicRoads.
/ thebusofdooms-transpor...

[@prussiaaero1802]

They could have done with another 30 escort vehicles darting around at the front

[@datyota684]

Let us all take a sec to thank the kingpin or knuckles or whatever you got holding the load to the semi's. I'm sure it's straight to the frame of the trucks but idk . It's just interesting to think about.

[@newenglander4513]

That's insane! Or so I gather from the woman talking.

[@ricardocarmona5210]

I would love to drive that.

[@horaceheath5592]

I actually paint these for a living,I've got about 250 under my belt small,big and massive

[@petea2721]

Why are you telling people this, do you actually think anyone cares

[@zacharytracy3797]

I think it's always fascinating to hear anything from anybody who's directly involved with such things. Feel free to comment in the future.

[@hiredgun0551]

​@@petea2721- Yeah, some of us do think it's interesting to hear from someone who has a hand in building these kinds of things. It's not always just about moving them. It's the whole process that is interesting. Don't be an ass!

[@geogustav3370]

Nice footage.

[@andrewgoldbergs4474]

Biggest load haul ever in Victoria, not the heaviest..remember the Mobil job of the late 1990s between Williamstown and Altona Refinery? 814t gross weight

[@philspd473]

It's about time my lionel transformer arrived...

[@GhostDrummer]

I love those Macks

[@paulytheaussie]

going to take a while to get to lismore at that pace

[@BratFyre]

Gee that's long.

[@billster1091]

I was wondering why there were so many people at the intersection when i was going home

[@quickgoanna]

She sounded impressed with the size of it.

[@Mick_4591]

Great video how ever if this was on O B T there would have been all sorts of issues

[@russellevans2446]

I hear that from my wife all the time. 😅

[@stuarth43]

quite surprised at the section of the tow beam round bar, looks light, but then again there are a squillion wheels braking so compression loads are not that big

[@realaussiemale567]

This was only the trip out of Geelong, there was a return trip back there several months later, after it had been O/seas to be repaired or overhauled.

[@thedolphin5428]

You're fuckin kidding, right?

[@TGLAZEY99]

@@thedolphin5428 Nope not kidding at all look it up ahaha

[@Schony747]

Not as exciting as the last one through Melbourne but still worth the drive down for a look!

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

A lot of the crowd that had come out to see it had left by the time it came through as it was running over 2 hours late. Definitely worth driving down to see it!

[@simonboxshall7392]

@@ThebusofdoomFSX i was down to see this myself, it had issues getting around its first corner, it it had taken out a fence, it was worth the long wait to see it pass through

[@chrisdriskell283]

As she would say, OMG it's so big....

[@maddog6245]

I’m not experienced with trucking, and I asked a similar question on another video. Are the two trucks in front pulling while the third truck in back is pushing? The response on the other video was that the truck in back was for braking, just curious if this is the common setup for extremely large cargo.

[@GhostDrummer]

I’m not any more experienced than you, but from all the other videos I’ve watched over the years, the two front are mainly pulling, while the back one can be utilized for both pushing and braking. The single one in the front and back that aren’t hooked up are usually there for extra pulling/braking if needed, but also to swap out if there’s a failure on any of the other trucks. *I hadn’t finished watching, so I didn’t realize there were two trucks not hooked up when I first commented.

[@maddog6245]

@@GhostDrummer Thanks for the response, I appreciate you providing a little more context to something I know nothing about!

[@pilbomags488]

9:14 Now there's an Oversized Load!

[@bsbsbsbjsbsbeb555]

تبارك الرحمن. 🌊🌊

[@timwilcox4972]

Yeah look at the size of it far outttttt WOWWWWWW, Shazza from Housos was there lol

[@robertdivany1627]

Any idea on how much $$$ it cost to move one of this transformers ?

[@tanneradams20]

In the states a load like this may cost the shipper up to 10k per mile. Some companies that do loads like this won’t even put their equipment on the road without a 50k down payment.

[@robertdivany1627]

@@tanneradams20. Thank yoy

[@christophermccord3316]

In America each one of the pilot/ escort vehicles with the orange flashing lights and wide load signs make about 25 dollars an hour and honestly I've lost count of how many escort vehicles I just saw.... not to mention all the police and utility workers to move electrical lines....

[@antoniojose8606]

👍

[@ricardosaulperezreyes3921]

Qué cargan

[@lachlantrainvideos]

Why couldn't you tell that person to shush? Lol. What was it carrying?

[@vincent_kith]

A 663 tonne transformer...

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

@@vincent_kith indeed. I don't see why anyone would have asked this question seeing the video title, description and captions clearly state what it's carrying...

[@daveolifent487]

@@vincent_kith The transformer was 305 tonnes. It was 663 tonnes including the trucks.

[@rossbrumby1957]

Princes highway.

[@wilf609]

For those interested, here is a video of moving a 123 ton transformer in 1962 by rail kzbin.info/www/bejne/l5fZeIaqjrlsrqs

[@bodhitree33]

Well now I know why Geelong roads always need repairing.

[@petea2721]

Because you don't pay taxes

[@lee-tx7yj]

UN-BE-LIEVE-ABLE. Btw, your caption at 0.05 is still in last year!

[@ThebusofdoomFSX]

I nicked Doc Brown's DeLorean to travel back in time to film this.

[@bsbsbsbjsbsbeb555]

ماشاء. الله

[@aggabus]

Wheel count

[@nevilledarman8n21]

👌😍😍😍🇦🇺❤️❤️❤️

[@peterh1875]

All those cop cars out front whizzing hither and thither made me think of a swarm of wasps all over a roadkill possum, that's been 2-3 days out in the heat. Don't want to get near ;-)

[@ed9763]

The only thing I liked about the video is the voice of that woman keeps saying " it is huge ".

[@nrfnrd]

I c loads like this in Alberta Canada

[@billkenyon11]

who is paying for this

[@senem1769]

So Optimus prime went through Geelong?

[@petea2721]

Stupid comment kid

[@carolynrose753]

I have seen video footage of massive mining equipment being trucked from port to mines which would probably surpass this load.... Australia

[@petea2721]

That's great but unless you have evidence of this it did happen.

[@zekeblack7004]

But somewhere in our past, we are to believe our ancestors lugged bigger heavier material up the sides of all kinds of terrain with slaves and then shaped to perfection some of these stones , to a degree we cannot replicate with modern devices? Okay then

[@williamrubinstein3442]

This looks like an uber driver with a lunch order take out?

[@bsbsbsbjsbsbeb555]

🌈🏰🏰

[@okphone7393]

Cds

[@alexanderSydneyOz]

God what an effing overkill of superfluous vehicles. Typical Victoria. I guess they are there for all the road users who can't see a 600 tonne load traveling at 15km/h.

[@itechcircle9410]

if someone crashes into it or something it will cost heaps of money and be a huge waste. The safety measures are not overkill.

[@alexanderSydneyOz]

@@itechcircle9410 how on earth would anyone crash into that?? And even if I accept the premise, the issue is the absurd excess of vehicles to achieve that.

[@itechcircle9410]

@@alexanderSydneyOz some people are idiots or arsonists

[@oigleoystereater2003]

If they cannot look after their trucks (they are filthy), are they going to look after my freight? I doubt it!

[@bharris7610]

It’s not your freight so not your concern. They’re working trucks , they can’t take a bath daily

[@oigleoystereater2003]

@@bharris7610 they may well tender for my freight so it is my concern. Their only means of showing their professionalism is to keep them clean, we do, other companies do, so they could, especially for a job attracting media coverage as did this. It's simple stupid!

[@bharris7610]

@@oigleoystereater2003 quit pretending , they’re not doing anything for you and once again , where exactly are they getting a showroom shine when pulling that. Hate to break the news to you but it’s not always possible. You simply want something to complain about so off you fuck

[@petea2721]

@@oigleoystereater2003 the other company's clean there trucks because they have no jobs on. Grow up kid anyone with half a business sense knows that. HHA for example

[@oigleoystereater2003]

@@petea2721 wrong, they don't have that much work, mainly because they don't look professional and their equipment doesn't look well maintained. There are many companies that present well, even when busy, it doesn't take much.

[@duanelohr1869]

I call this a lot like a parade of doom. Why??? The cost of taking the thing there, wow!!! And I say doom because the job could have been handled by smaller transformers in sequence without relying on one big one. I see the energy companies spending money on great projects like this but what good will it do? Spend billions on supplying energy and forget about infrastructure?? Oh look, we have all this power for you, why don't you use it?? Oh gee, because the power lines you put in 70 years ago failed again. Yah you supply but you don't deliver. Bet the cost of this stupid transformer and the parade of doom was passed on to the customers.

[@brendonsmith9100]

Are you an electrical engineer who specialises in high voltage power transmission? I think not, or you would be aware of power losses by using several transformers rather than one.

[@thedolphin5428]

What's the bloody point of the thing? Why has engineering got to such sizes? Why can't a wind farm work with 2 transformers at half the size, or 4 at a quarter the size? (Many do). And ... from overseas on a ship, to Geelong, then to Lismore. WTF???? Why not off it at Brisbane fir a far shorter trip? Just fucking madness all round so a bunch of people can have electricity to run their air conditioners in summer. Madness. Stupidity.

[@luke6575]

Hahaha all I can do is laugh at the pathetic comment 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Johnboy33545]

Yet here you are using electricity. Pot meet kettle.

[@thedolphin5428]

@@Johnboy33545 Laughing at you, Mr Presumptuous. I happen to be typing this on my phone (my only comms tech), charged daily from a 300 watt solar system. Sure, mains power made many things I live with. But my point is that if people lived more simply, monsters like this thing would not be necessary.

[@Mick_4591]

Your not Frikien serious are you? Typical GREENIE

[@brendonsmith9100]

You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Consult with a power transmission engineer , like myself before making uninformed comments.

[@darrylmackie9184]

And only ten support vehicles were lost in the making of this film.

[@jamjardj1974]

Interesting to see the huge amount of resources that are deployed to “save” the earth from destruction. I for one am extremely worried by the new society that is being implemented for our own good by the eco loons!