By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

NORCO – Large pieces of heavy equipment will once again be moving along Airline Highway through St. Charles Parish this week, as the Valero St. Charles prepares for upcoming expansion projects.

With the help of a heavy equipment transport company, Valero St. Charles will be moving seven large pieces of equipment from the Bonnet Carre Spillway down Airline Highway to the refinery’s laydown yard on the corner of Louisiana Highway 3217 and Airline Highway.

Valero spokesperson Taryn Miller said the move began Tuesday and would continue through next Monday.

The equipment, which was manufactured in Italy and Spain and is part of the plant’s revamp project for 2011, is being moved from Louisiana Highway 628, also known as CC Road, and will travel eastbound on Airline Highway across the spillway to the laydown yard. Miller said the move, which could take about four hours, would cause a blockage on CC Road and a slowdown on Airline Highway. She said all seven pieces should be moved in about five or six trips. State Police will be on hand to redirect traffic and escort the components to the refinery area.

This is the second time Valero has had to transport heavy pieces of equipment down Airline Highway to the refinery as part of the pending expansion work.

The refinery executed three equipment moves last week as part of a pending project to refurbish the plant’s hydrocracker unit.