License to Kiln: Authorities Escort 300-Ton Furnace on Careful Six-Day Journey Across Arkansas

The Arkansas Department of Transportation said on May 10 that it is helping to escort a giant 300-ton kiln as it makes a careful six-day trip through the state.

The 600,000-pound kiln, which was built in Italy before it made its way across the Atlantic Ocean, left Crossett, in the state’s south, on May 10 and is due to arrive at its destination, the Veolia Thermal Hazardous Waste Treatment Operation in Gum Springs – about 125 miles northwest – on May 15, the Arkansas Department of Transportation said. The transport will move no more than 5 to 20 miles per hour, the department said.

The journey from Crossett to Gum Springs usually takes around two hours and 17 minutes in a car, but the size of the load has turned it into an almost weeklong journey, Arkansas Online reported. Veolia said the kiln will be used to safely dispose of “complex waste streams” through thermal treatment and will operate at extremely high temperatures, the outlet reported.

This video shows the kiln crossing the Ouachita River with its motorcade as it began its journey on May 10. Credit: Arkansas Department of Transportation via Storyful

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