After tedious trip, giant magnet reaches Ill. lab
(AP)—It's 50 feet wide, weighs more than 15 tons and took a month to transport 3,200 miles from New York to Illinois.
A gigantic electromagnet ended its tedious journey early Friday at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, near Chicago, where it will be used to study blazing-fast particles.
But getting the massive gadget to the lab wasn't so fast.
From a federal laboratory in New York, it floated down the East Coast into the Gulf, then up river to Illinois, but couldn't twist more than an eighth of an inch without being permanently damaged.
The trip involved outrunning tropical weather in the Gulf of Mexico, then road blocks as it traveled on a specially made flatbed truck at speeds of only between 5 and 15 mph.
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A worker walks underneath the electromagnet as it moves down Butterfield Road in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Thursday, July 25, 2013 enroute to its new home outside Chicago on Friday. The electromagnet is 50 feet wide, weighs more than 15 tons and has taken a month to transport 3,200 miles from New York to Illinois. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen) -
Onlookers watch and take photos as the electromagnet passes by on Butterfield Road in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Thursday, July 25, 2013 enroute to its new home outside Chicago on Friday. The electromagnet is 50 feet wide, weighs more than 15 tons and has taken a month to transport 3,200 miles from New York to Illinois. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen) -
The electromagnet moves down Interstate 88 in Naperville, Ill., Friday, July 26, 2013 on its way to Fermilab. The electromagnet is 50 feet wide, weighs more than 15 tons and has taken a month to transport 3,200 miles from New York to Illinois. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen) -
The electromagnet begins to move down Butterfield Road in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Thursday, July 25, 2013 enroute to its new home outside Chicago on Friday. The electromagnet is 50 feet wide, weighs more than 15 tons and has taken a month to transport 3,200 miles from New York to Illinois. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen) -
The electromagnet sits on a special platform in Glen Ellyn, Ill., Thursday, July 25, 2013 before the final move of the electromagnet to its new home outside Chicago on Friday. The electromagnet is 50 feet wide, weighs more than 15 tons and has taken a month to transport 3,200 miles from New York to Illinois. (AP Photo/Scott Eisen)
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