Highway 83 closes for 24 hours

Posted 1/20/10 (Wed)

By Alyssa Schafer, Editor

Area drivers will have to make way for some massive machines next week. A stretch of U.S. Highway 83 between Washburn and Underwood will be closed for a period of about 24 hours so large mining equipment can be moved across the highway. Beginning at about 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 26, Falkirk Mine’s large dragline, a small dragline and a loading shovel will be moved across U.S. 83 so the equipment can be used to mine a different area, Falkirk Mine Land Agent Doug Stoltz said. "It’s exciting to move on," Stoltz said. "Coal removal has been completed in that area." The machines will be moving from a section south of Underwood, on the west side of U.S. 83, to a section on the east side of the highway. Eventually, the equipment will be moved north of N.D. Highway 200, Stoltz said. Falkirk officials have been preparing for this equipment move for years, but most of the planning has been done in the last six months, Stoltz said.