Another “superload” will be creeping across southeast Wyoming on Wednesday. Unless drivers want to stay stuck at 30 miles per hour, they’ll want to avoid I-80 that morning.
The Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) alerted drivers that a “slow-moving superload” will be traveling from Laramie to Medicine Bow on Wednesday. The 39-mile haul along I-80, from Laramie to Arlington, is expected to happen between 9 a.m. and noon.
Anyone who thinks they might be able to pass this convoy should reconsider. The superload is over 385 feet long, 26 feet wide, and weighs 1,484,000 lbs.
“It takes between two and three hours for this superload to go 40 miles,” said WYDOT spokesperson Andrea Staley. “If you get behind it, you're probably going to be sitting for a little while.”
Superload
There is a difference between a “superload” and an oversized load. While the exact parameters vary from state to state, the website HeavyHaulers states that anything over 8.5 feet wide, 13.5 feet tall, 53 feet long, and weighing above 46,000 pounds is considered an oversized load.
A superload is anything exceeding 16 feet in height and width, 160 feet in length, and 200,000 pounds. That more than qualifies Wednesday’s load as a superload.
“This is absolutely one of the larger loads that we see on Wyoming’s interstate system,” Staley said. “We’ve had to use careful consideration for the permitting process and determining the route it will take.”
This superload is transporting a massive transformer for a wind farm being constructed near Medicine Bow. Staley said this is the second of three transformers being moved across southern Wyoming this summer.
“The transport company has a permit to move these transformers from the end of June through August,” Staley said. “We found out on Monday that they're going to be moving on Wednesday. That's about as much information as we get.”
The transformer arrives in Laramie via rail. It’s loaded onto the transporter trailer, which is wide enough to take up both lanes on I-80, and slowly driven to its destination over 55 miles away.
Staley said the superload will travel on I-80 from Laramie to Arlington, where it will turn onto WY-13 to Rock River, and then continue on U.S. 30/187 until it reaches the wind farm north of Medicine Bow.
No Passing
Staley said this superload will be a “one-day haul,” meaning it will be moved in a day — though the transformer disassembly and reassembly will take days.
“They generally have been moving each transformer into Laramie for the first movement, then wait until early the next morning to take it the rest of the way to Medicine Bow,” she said. “They will be doing it all in one shot on Wednesday, and we’ll see how it goes.”
The superload will need to take three turns to get from the Laramie railyards to the I-80 entrance. Those turns can take between 10 and 30 minutes each.
Once it’s on I-80, the superload will block both lanes as it moves around 30 miles per hour. Staley said that speed slows down significantly once it reaches a bridge.
“Anytime it goes over our bridges, it needs to do what they call a creep,” she said. “It drops down to about five miles an hour, just to make sure that they're not damaging any of our road surface as it crosses.”
There are points where the superload can pull over to let drivers pass, but those are few and far between. Anyone who gets stuck behind it will probably stay stuck until it turns off I-80 at Arlington.
Recognize And Reroute
The same transport company moving Wednesday’s superload did six similar transports in 2024, and there’s at least one more planned before the end of August. More transformers could be relocated in the future, but this will not occur until 2026.
Staley said the company is “fantastic to work with.” They’ve been coordinating with WYDOT for months to ensure the superload reaches its destination with minimal impact.
Nevertheless, drivers will quickly be discouraged if they get stuck behind the superload. That’s why Staley encourages everyone traveling along I-80 to use the alternate routes WYDOT has plotted for Wednesday morning.
“We warn travelers that this is going to be impacting travel,” she said. “The planned route is already posted on wyoroad.info. So, if you want to get to Rawlins on I-80 between 9 a.m. and noon, you don't want to get stuck behind this thing.”
There are multiple alternative routes, but Staley suggested drivers take U.S. 30/287 or WY-130 to travel between Rawlins and Laramie on Wednesday morning. By noon, I-80 will be free and clear of any and all superloads.
If drivers can stay informed, Staley is confident that everything will go smoothly.
“There's just a lot of coordination and months and months of planning that take place before the actual movements,” she said. “We’ve definitely done this a time or two, and we know what we’re doing. Travelers just need to know that this will be impacting travel.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
