UPDATED: Suffolk Highways to support three abnormal load movements through October

Sunday 22 October 2023 (Load 1)

6am – Depart Ipswich Docks

The second half of the journey will be reviewed when it reaches Bury Road/Old Norwich Road, Ipswich and will only continue to Eye Airfield if safe to do so. A decision will be made by Suffolk Police based on safety and daylight hours restrictions, as to whether the load stops at Old Ipswich Road, Claydon (bus section south of Hill View Business Park) or continues along A14. If it is deemed unsafe to continue, the second half of the journey will continue on Sunday 29 October 2023.

If the load movement continues on the following Sunday, the previous route will be followed, via Claydon/Coddenham.

A14 (possible second route) – Should the decision be made to continue along A14, traffic will be managed by Suffolk Police to allow for the loads to travel safely along A14 from Whitehouse (J53) to A140 (J51), leaving and re-joining at Claydon (J52) to allow traffic to flow. The load will travel in the wrong direction and a rolling roadblock will be in place with traffic being held temporarily.

Load 2, which is the turbine and largest out of all 3 loads that will be transported, weighing in at approx. 332 tonnes, 5.20 m in width, 10.93 m in length and 4.88 m in height. The entire load including the cradle that carries the turbine, has a total weight of 504 tonnes and measures 80 m in length.

Please note, ‘no parking’ signs/cones will be placed on Cliff Road and Tomline Road – it is extremely important that all vehicles are removed from these roads by midnight to ensure no disruptions or delays.

The load will leave Ipswich Docks at 6am following the same route as the first;

Cliff Road, Duke Street onto Fore Street and up Bishops Hill onto Felixstowe Road, Debry Road, Tomline Road and down Foxhall Road, Grove Lane and onto St Helens Street.

The load will then make its way through Ipswich town along St Margarets Street, Crown Street, St Matthews Street and onto Norwich Road where the load will then be transported along Old Norwich Road and parked adjacent to the bus lane south of Hill View Business Park, Old Ipswich Road, Claydon where it will remain in place until the following Sunday (5 November 2023)

No closures will be installed on the A14 or A140 during the move on 29 October 2023.

We are currently unable to advise exact timings of when the load will reach each road however, we advise road users and businesses to follow the route and updates via the Suffolk Highways twitter account @Suff_Highways.

On 5 November 2023, Load 2 will leave Old Ipswich Road, Claydon at 6.30am making its way back down Old Norwich Road onto Bury Road where rolling road closures will then be installed along the A14 as we travel west up the east bound side of the carriageway, briefly holding at the Claydon interchange to allow traffic through before continuing to the A140 junction.

The A140 will be closed at the A14 interchange and A143 Scole roundabout and a diversion will be set up using the A143 and A14 via Bury St Edmunds and vice versa. Access will be available for local traffic either side of the A140. The diversion route will be in place and should be followed, especially by HGV’s until the road is clear. Road users will not be able to pass the abnormal load at any point.

To confirm, a hard closure point will be in place at Brockford Bridge from 6.30am whilst the temporary bridge is installed, and the abnormal load has crossed. We anticipate this section to remain closed for approx. 6 hours. However, this will be dependent on progress.

Load 3 will depart Ipswich Docks at 5.30am and make its way through Ipswich using the same route as the previous load movements:

Cliff Road, Duke Street onto Fore Street and up Bishops Hill onto Felixstowe Road, Debry Road, Tomline Road and down Foxhall Road, Grove Lane and onto St Helens Street.

The load will then make its way through Ipswich town along St Margaret's Street, Crown Street, St Matthews Street and onto Norwich Road.

The second half of the journey will be reviewed when it reaches Bury Road/Old Norwich Road, Ipswich and will only continue to Eye Airfield if safe to do so. A decision will be made by Suffolk Police based on safety and daylight hours restrictions, as to whether the load stops at Old Ipswich Road, Claydon (bus section south of Hill View Business Park) or continues along A14 towards the A140 and to Eye Airfield. If it is deemed unsafe to continue, the second half of the journey will continue on Sunday 26 November 2023.

A14 route – Should the decision be made to continue, traffic will be managed by Suffolk Police to allow the load to travel safely along A14 from Whitehouse (J53) to A140 (J51), rolling road closures will be installed along the A14 as we travel west up the east bound side of the carriageway, briefly holding at the Claydon interchange to allow traffic through before continuing to the A140 junction.

The A140 will be closed at the A14 interchange and A143 Scole roundabout and a diversion will be set up using the A143 and A14 via Bury St Edmunds and vice versa. Access will be available for local traffic either side of the A140. The diversion route will be in place and should be followed, especially by HGV’s until the road is clear. Road users will not be able to pass the abnormal load at any point.

To confirm, a hard closure point will be in place at Brockford Bridge whilst the temporary bridge is installed, and the abnormal load has crossed. We anticipate this section to remain closed for approx. 6 hours. However, this will be dependent on progress.

We are currently unable to advise exact timings of when the load will reach each road however, we advise road users and businesses to follow the route and updates via the Suffolk Highways twitter account @Suff_Highways.

The total length of each vehicle will be 80m and approx. 500 – 600 tonnes total weight.

Prior to the previous abnormal loads in 2021, Suffolk Highways anticipated future abnormal load movements so works were carried out to replace permanent street furniture with easily removable bollards. This limits the amount of work and disruption required during the lead up to abnormal load movements. As this load will be taking a different route to previous years, additional pre works have been required to install removable street furniture, and undertake extensive vegetation removal work along the full route.

On the day of the transformer movement, highways teams will be leading and following the vehicle to prepare the route, temporarily removing and reinstating street furniture and trimming trees (where required A140, Claydon, Barham/Coddenham and several locations in Ipswich). This will enable the loads to be transported whilst keeping disruption to a minimum for members of the public.

A temporary road closure of A140 will be necessary whilst the load moves to its destination to Eye Airfield. A temporary overbridge at Brockford will be installed to protect the county’s roads and structure.

Once the load has safely passed the overbridge and the road is deemed safe for public use, the overbridge will be dismantled in readiness for when the A140 can be reopened. The closure could be in place for several hours from midday; however, the Suffolk Highways twitter account will be providing accurate timings and updates throughout the day. Other restrictions will also be in place, such as parking and weight limit restrictions, the suspension of any double yellow lines along the route and the closure of B1075 Tomline Road, Ipswich and the St Matthews Street, Ipswich subway.

To allow the load to navigate safely around permanent street furniture on the day of the move, the load will be travelling on the opposite side of the carriageway at times. Suffolk Highways’ Traffic Management teams will be leading the load, whilst Suffolk Police will manage traffic.

To limit the impact on the travelling public, there may be temporary stop points along the route to support with minimising congestion.

Other possible move dates – 19 and 26 November and 3 December 2023.

The A140 will be closed on 3 of the 6 Sundays detailed above.