Traffic could be affected by large electric condensers being moved from ETTP

 

Traffic on Highway 58 and Highway 95 could be affected for two weeks starting Thursday by large, slow-moving equipment removing parts from a former electrical switchyard at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

The work is being done by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. It’s part of the ongoing cleanup work at ETTP, the former K-25 site.

Workers are removing, disposing, and recycling components from a former ETTP electrical switchyard, known as K-732 Switchyard.

“For the next two weeks, this project requires the use of a specialized trailer on public highways to transport three large condensers that each weighs approximately 110 tons,” a press release said. “Motorists transiting the area during this time should be alert for slow-moving vehicles and expect occasional delays.”

Each condenser will require a separate shipment, and these shipments are scheduled to occur every three to four days depending on weather conditions, the press release said. The route will start at the East Tennessee Technology Park, where it will travel north on Highway 58, then onto Highway 95, and proceed south to Bethel Valley Road for disposal in the Oak Ridge Reservation Landfill.

While on public highways, the shipments will be escorted by the Oak Ridge Police Department for safety and traffic control. DOE has also coordinated with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to ensure compliance with all permit requirements, the press release said.

The U.S. Department of Energy recently announced that it has awarded a $2.1 million fixed-price contract to a small business based in Michigan, CTI and Associates, to perform asset recovery and demolition work at the old electrical switchyard. The work includes the removal and recycling of electrical equipment. The switchyard is adjacent to the K-27 Building, which is being demolished.

K-27 is the last of five gaseous diffusion buildings at ETTP, once known as the K-25 site or the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. K-25 was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal building to build the world’s first atomic bombs.

Operations ended in 1985, and the site was permanently shut down in 1987. DOE then began cleanup operations and—with the help of contractors, a nonprofit organization, and others–is converting the site into a large private industrial park.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.