A big rig hauled a 150-ton lid for a nuclear reactor through the San Gorgonio Pass and into Palm Springs early Friday, and it is now parked in Desert Hot Springs, according to the California Highway Patrol.
As of 11 a.m. Friday, the lid was parked at Indian Avenue and Dillon Road.
Starting late Thursday, the truck hauling the reactor lid moved slowly on the wrong side of Interstate 10 to State Route 111 in the area of Snow Creek Road, CHP dispatchers in Indio said.
The reactor lid is being moved by an equally gargantuan rig from Bigge Crane and Rigging Co., which took charge of the piece at the Port of Long Beach, authorities said. The rig is being escorted by the CHP.
The transport vehicle, which can only go about 5 mph, traveled down the wrong side of Interstate 10 late Thursday and early today, from Hargrave Street in Banning to the turn-off to the 111, a distance of about 10 miles.
Traffic was diverted while the wide load was on the 10 freeway. Traffic will also be detoured as the vehicle travels along the 111, Racquet Club Drive, Farrell Drive, Vista Chino and Gene Autry Trial, where it will make its way back onto the interstate and continue along state Route 62. Some streets may have to be closed temporarily.
The reactor lid's final destination is the Palo Verde nuclear plant near Phoenix. This is the second of three lids being taken to Arizona, according to the Bigge Crane and Rigging Co.
