Motorists traveling in Lee and Ogle counties last week had to navigate around or wait out an oversized load en route to the Constellation Clean Energy Station on German Church Road, south of Byron.

A very large turbine – part of $355 million turbine project at the nuclear power plant – made its way through northeastern Lee County before heading north on Daysville Road to state Route 64, east of Oregon.

The 300-foot trailer carrying the turbine was pulled and pushed by two semi tractors that were escorted by advance crews, some of which raised traffic lights and wires at the Daysville/Route 64 intersection as the behemoth turned east en route to German Church Road.

The Ogle County Sheriff’s Office warned motorists of the oversize load.

“This shipment will impact the intersection of Daysville and Illinois Route 64. Expect a minimum of a 30-minute delay,” the sheriff’s department posted on its Ogle Safe app.

The turbines were transported by the “Heavy Haul Team” of Barnhart Crane and Rigging Co., Memphis.

After making the turn at the Daysville Road intersection, the team headed east on state Route 64 before turning north onto German Church Road en route to the plant. Traffic was stopped on German Church Road as the large piece of equipment turned into the plant’s main entrance.

Constellation’s Power Uprate Project, slated to begin in 2026 and be completed in 2029, will include replacing six low-pressure turbines and two high-pressure turbines.

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Two semi tractors pulling and pushing the trailer carrying a large turbine for Constellation's Byron generating station head north on German Church Road en route to the nuclear power plant on Monday, Dec. 8, 2025. (Earleen Hinton)

The new turbines will generate an additional 79 to 80 megawatts of energy and part of the project will be updating the electrical system to accommodate that increase, Byron Site Vice President Harris Welt said in a news release earlier this year.

Construction of the Byron plant began in 1975 by Commonwealth Edison. It includes two reactors - Unit 1 which began operating in September 1985 and Unit 2 coming online in August 1987.

U.S. nuclear energy facilities are initially licensed to operate for 40 years and a Nuclear Regulatory Commission rule allows licensees to apply for initial and subsequent license renewals of up to 20 years each after the initial 40-year term.

The NRC approved initial license renewal on Nov. 19, 2015, authorizing Byron Unit 1 to operate through 2044 and Unit 2 to operate through 2046, Constellation said on its website.