A big move began taking place on the streets of Edmonton Sunday night, as the largest load in the province’s history begins its journey to a destination north of the city.
Inter Pipeline built a tower that is 97 metres high at Dacro Industries on 51 Avenue; to put it into context, it’s roughly the size of a Canadian football field.
The company said the tower weighs approximately 800 tonnes — roughly four times the weight of a blue whale.
Watch below: On Tuesday morning, the unit was parked in the area of Highway 14 and Highway 21. Check out the view from the Global 1 news helicopter.
The tower, which is made primarily from carbon steel and took one year to manufacture, is moving this week to the Heartland Petrochemical Complex, which is currently being built outside Fort Saskatchewan.
“It’s massive,” said Transportation Minister Brian Mason, who got a glimpse of the project Sunday.
“It’s all Alberta. It’s constructed in Alberta. It’s moved by Albertans. It’s going to an Alberta company. I understand about 80 per cent of all the materials going in to these vessels are sourced from right here. That’s very impressive. I’m very proud of that.”
Company officials declined to speak Sunday, instead saying they will hold a media availability about the tower on Thursday.
Watch below: (From Jan. 9, 2019) It’s a slow process but progress is being made as a massive tower moves closer to Fort Saskatchewan.
In a press release, Inter Pipeline said the tower will be used to turn propane into recyclable plastic pellets, which will then be used to make items such as computers, medical equipment and food storage containers.
The tower will travel to its final destination over the course of four days. Mammoet, which specializes in transporting oversized and heavy objects, is carrying out the move.
This is the route provided by the Government of Alberta (The parts below in italics have already been completed):
- East on 51 Avenue to Roper Road
- South on 75 Street
- East on Whitemud Drive to Anthony Henday Drive
- South on Anthony Henday Drive to Highway 14
- East on Highway 14 to a staging area on the east side of Highway 21 and south side of Highway 14
- East on Highway 14 to Range Road 190
- North on Range Road 190 to Township Road 510
- East on Township Road 510 to Highway 834
- North on Highway 834 to Highway 15
- West on Highway 15 to Lamont
- West on Highway 15 to Range Road 220
- North on Range Road 220 to the petrochemical complex
The $3.5-billion Heartland Petrochemical Complex will be completed in 2021.
READ MORE: Inter Pipeline green-lights $3.5B petrochemical project to produce plastic
The province picked Inter Pipeline’s project a year ago to receive up to $200 million in royalty credits. Pembina Pipeline, also headquartered in Calgary, is to receive $300 million in credits for a similar project in the same area if it decides to proceed.
READ MORE: Alberta chooses 2 petrochemical plants for $500M in royalty credits
The credits, to be paid out after the facilities are operating, can’t be used directly by the petrochemical facilities, but they can be sold to oil or natural gas producers to reduce their provincial royalty payments.
WATCH BELOW: A massive tower constructed in Edmonton will hit the highway Sunday night- heading to its destination, a new industrial complex near Fort Saskatchewan. Julia Wong reports.
— with files from The Canadian Press