Oversized load bound for Eastman to impact traffic in several counties

KINGSPORT, Tenn. ( WJHL ) — An oversized load bound for Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport will impact traffic in several East Tennessee counties on Sunday and Monday nights.

The oversized load is 20 feet wide, 229 feet long, 17 feet tall, and around 410,000 pounds, and will travel between Morgan County and Sullivan County, according to the Tennessee Department of Transportation.

The transport will take place between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. on Sunday and Monday.

During the first night, the oversized load is expected to travel through Morgan, Roane, Anderson, Knox, Union, and Claiborne counties. It will then travel through Grainger, Hawkins, and Sullivan counties on the second night.

US 27S in Oakdale, crossover to opposite side of the road onto SR 61E, then Winter Gap Road, Railroad Avenue, and Knox Street to SR 62E in Oak Ridge, crossover to opposite side of the road onto SR 170, then US 25W to SR 61E, US 441S, SR 33N, to US 25E (southbound), in Bean Station, then a left onto West Main Street East, to US 11W North in Church Hill, crossover to opposite side of the road onto SR 346 NE (Carters Valley Road), then US 23S to Exit 4B, on to SR 93, to SR 126N, to Lincoln Street North, and onto 12th Street in Kingsport.

Oversized load route described by TDOT

TDOT said the schedule is contingent on favorable weather conditions.

The oversized load will be escorted by state troopers.

Eastman said the load is the first of three pieces of equipment that will be transported to its Kingsport plant as part of a planned upgrade. The equipment will replace existing equipment. The other two transports are expected to occur in mid-July.

“Equipment transport will be slow and will impact traffic both inside and outside the plant,” an Eastman spokesperson said. “We are working with all appropriate transportation authorities for safe transport and to minimize disruption as we can.”

Click here for a PDF of the oversized load route.

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