Oversized load being hauled to upstate NY plant via canals

It takes more than an old mule named Sal to haul this load on the Erie Canal.

A barge loaded with 10 concrete vaults weighing more than 800 tons is making its way westward on the canal, headed for a final destination on Lake Ontario's southern shore.

The vaults were made in Cape Charles, Va. and towed on a barge up the East Coast to New York.

A tugboat owned by Troy-based New York State Marine Highway Transportation Co. is pushing the barge to its destination, the Ginna nuclear power plant in the Wayne County town of Ontario, just east of Rochester.

The $2 million cargo entered the Erie Canal at Waterford, just north of Albany, on Tuesday. The crew will dock at Little Falls this evening, then resume the journey this morning.

Tomorrow the cargo will be transported through the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. The vaults are scheduled to be unloaded Monday at the Ginna plant.

On the Net:

www.nyscanals.gov  

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