Huge Refinery Equipment Is Star Of Tulsa 'Parade'

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK --  Two massive pieces of oil refinery equipment became the star of a "parade" in North Tulsa Monday morning.

The equipment consists of the upper and lower sections of an oil refinery reactor.  It's bound for a refinery located in Regina, Canada.

The sections were built by Heater Specialists in Tulsa.  They're being hauled by Contractors Cargo Company, based in Compton, California.

Russ Jones, the project manager for Contractors Cargo, said hauling giant loads is routine for his company.

"It pretty much is," Jones said.  "We've been doing it for a long time, since 1933."  Jones said the company began hauling very oversized loads in 1959.

Jones said the lower reactor weighs 303,000 pounds, the upper one 235,000 pounds, and they'll take up to two weeks to arrive at their destination.

The company has sent out people to scout the entire route and to obtain permits for every state, county and city the convoy passes through.

The News On 6 caught up with the load on 36th Street North.

The convoy includes the huge trucks and trailers, as well as pilot vehicles and even bucket trucks so the crew can move utility lines along the way.  The trailers also have "snooter" boards -- drooping pieces of wood or PVC pipes attached to the tallest sections -- to help ease utility lines over the load.

Jones said the convoy's maximum speed will be about 35 miles per hour.  He says the company hauls loads into out of Oklahoma all the time, the bigger and heavier, the better.

"Stuff that's big and heavy and ugly, that's what we like to haul," Jones said.