Heads up! Delivery of 4 massive beer tanks to shut down roads in Ontario city

Four massive beer tanks have been causing a buzz in southwestern Ontario as they make their way to their new home at Labatt Brewery in London.

The brewing equipment, over 33 metres long and nearly seven metres wide, takes up two lanes of traffic and has been moving at a slow pace, first arriving in the city from Lambton County Tuesday afternoon.

After stopping near Hamilton Road and Highbury Avenue overnight to give crews time to rest, the journey continued Wednesday morning, with the fermenting tanks less than two kilometres from their final destination as of 9 a.m.

“They travel very slowly because the convoy’s so large. Hence why we’ve been working with local authorities,” said Hannah Love, Labatt Breweries of Canada senior director for external affairs and communications.

“Just to make sure that everybody’s aware that they are coming.”

The fermenting tanks, worth a combined $13.5 million, were manufactured in Germany and were transported to Canada by ship, arriving at port in Sarnia. They have since been travelling by land as they make their way to their new home in London as part of an expansion at the brewery.

“That’s our hometown brewery where we brew over 40 per cent of Canada’s beer. So we’ve invested in these so we can basically brew more beer to meet consumer demand,” said Love.

Each tank will provide additional capacity equivalent to six million bottles of beer.

The City of London issued a notice warning of expected delays on Fanshawe Park Road east to Highbury Avenue and then through Hamilton Road and Horton Road, Richmond Street and, finally, Grey Street.

Police have been in the area while the beer tank delivery moves through the city.

Public transit riders can also expect delays and detours on most routes with full information available on the London Transit Commission’s website.