Power outages expected as giant tanks moved

Manitoba Hydro customers in some communities may be temporarily without power while eight giant storage tanks are transported across Manitoba by truck between Tuesday and Thursday.

Outages may affect areas primarily along highways 23 and 59, Hydro said.

Crews will either lift or temporarily disconnect power lines at about 220 locations along the roughly 430-kilometre route from the Manitoba-Saskatchewan boundary and the Tolstoi border crossing into Minnesota. Each outage is expected to last about 1 ½ hours.

Hydro said the empty storage tanks, manufactured in Alberta, are being moved so they can be shipped overseas. Each tank is about the height of a two-storey building.

A schedule provided by Hydro said the tanks will be moved along highways 1, 21 and 23 on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the move will resume at the intersection of highways 23 and 34, and proceed to Morris.

The last leg, on Thursday, is between Morris and the Manitoba-Minnesota border, using highways 23 and 59.