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Irvine Road to be closed for delivery

April 13, 2009

Portions of Irvine Road in Clark County will be closed to traffic this week as East Kentucky Power Cooperative delivers a new generating unit to J.K. Smith Station in Trapp.

One of two new generating units being installed at the plant, it is tentatively scheduled to be transported on Tuesday or Wednesday, most likely during the late-night hours, according to EKPC. But, the schedule could change based on weather conditions and at the discretion of Kentucky transportation officials.

Fueled by natural gas, the 155-ton unit was transported by barge from Houston to Carrollton, Ky. From there, it is being moved by a heavy-hauler vehicle specially designed for large loads. The trip from Carrollton is expected to take four days, with hauling halted between Thursday and Monday due to the Easter holiday weekend.

Most of the route from Carrollton to Winchester is over limited-access, multi-lane highways, which typically does not require closing roads.

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However, because of the extreme width of the load, hauling over Irvine Road will require closing both lanes of the highway. Portions of the road between Bypass Road and Smith Station in Trapp likely will be closed for several hours when the delivery takes place.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will designate the hours for hauling, and delivery will be coordinated with state and local authorities.

A second generating unit is scheduled to be delivered to Smith Station in the next few weeks.

The two new gas-fueled generating units being installed at Smith Station will provide "peaking" power during very hot and very cold days. Construction of the new units is targeted for completion later this year.

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