Police teams mounted a major overnight operation to close roads including the M2 and M5, to assist the transport of a 500 tonne oversized load to a local power station on the East Antrim coast.
Due to the size and weight of the load, it was too heavy to cross the Fortwilliam bridge, so police escorted it on the ‘wrong side’ of the carriageway for most of the journey.
A police spokesperson said:
“Overnight (into the wee small hours) officers from Road Policing Unit carried out an Abnormal Load Escort of Components for a local power station.
“This load was over weight (approx 500 tonne), over width, and over length, and consisted of 2 separate loads.
“Due to its dimensions and weight (determined too heavy to cross Fortwilliam bridge/roundabout) it was necessary to move the load using closed roads to enable the load to travel along the M2/M5 & Shore Road, Newtownabbey, on the incorrect side of the Carriageway.
“Apologies to anyone who’s journey was inconvenienced as a result of this movement.”
