Wide load expected to create 2-mile backups on I-81

The Virginia Department of Transportation said a Navy antenna will block two lanes of traffic and will be escorted by state police and a VDOT safety patrol.

The Trucker News Services

6/17/2008

ABINGDON, Va. — A 28-foot-wide, 100-foot-long U.S. Navy antenna is expected to clog traffic in the northbound lane of Interstate 81 and back up traffic for two miles.

The oversized load is scheduled to depart near Abingdon on Tuesday night to begin a two-day journey across Virginia.

The massive load is destined for Baltimore, where it will be shipped to an island about 1,000 miles south of India.

Sandy Myers of the Virginia Department of Transportation said the load will block two lanes of traffic and will be escorted by state police and a VDOT safety patrol.

The load will travel in a portion of the acceleration lane, but Myers still expects traffic backups of two miles.

State police say U.S. Highway 11 can be used to avoid the bottleneck.