Not through my back yard


We're all familiar with NIMBY (not in my back yard). Well, according to an article in the Washington Post, residents of Loudoun and Facquier Counties in Virginia are trying to stop a large truck from rolling through their neighborhoods.

To be fair, the truck is really large, as in 16-axles and 114 wheels and weighing in at over 427,000 pounds (including its 132-ton cargo).

The problem is that Loudoun County needs the 132-ton transformer (one of four to make the trip) in order to set up a new sub-station in Leesburg and thus meet the growing electrical needs of that area.

Of particular concern to the residents is the fact that the journey will all be on small country roads, a situation made necessary by the mass of the vehicle and device that it is hauling. It turns out that the vehicle can't pass over long bridges without causing them structural damage, and therefore, cargo and trailer have been routed through small roads and across small bridges, where the weight will be borne only a few axles at a time. Even with that, the power company will need to build temporary bridge reinforcements on some of the bridges and will need to trim trees in front of the vehicle.