A shiny new building to house the communityB次元官网网址檚 newest firetruck seemed to magically appear in Oak Bay this week.

What residents didnB次元官网网址檛 see was the months of planning and days of inching travel that the project manager figures is a B次元官网网址渇irst of its kind.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淎s far as we know, thereB次元官网网址檚 never been a modular building like this moved to the Island,B次元官网网址� Miguel Melgar of Rangeland Truck and Crane based out of Airdrie, Alta., told the Oak Bay B次元官网网址.

The building actually arrived on a 46-by-5.22-metre, near-100-ton trailer operated by teams that routinely move oilfield equipment B次元官网网址� lighter but larger, taller, wider loads on roads designed for moving mega machines.

When Oak Bay fire commissioned its new 105-foot rear mount aerial ladder truck, it was the best fit for community safety, but not for the heritage hall the department works from. Knowing that, Oak Bay sussed out options, whittling down to the steel structure built by Extreme Modular Buildings in Lethbridge, Alta.

The trip west required approvals from two provincial governments and every community the convoy crossed from Lethbridge to Oak Bay.

B次元官网网址淓ach jurisdiction along the route has its own stipulations on how and where we can go,B次元官网网址� Melgar said.

The actual trip meant inching along, primarily between midnight and 5 a.m. For example, one small stretch meant getting approvals from Chilliwack, Abbotsford, Township of Langley, Langley City (two separate entities Melgar learned) and the City of Delta.

It starts with site visits, measuring, calculating, creating renderings and then modelling the route.

B次元官网网址淥nce we have the route then we have to have that surveyed and processed to take a look at what are the challenges along that line,B次元官网网址� Melgar said. B次元官网网址淲e had to reroute quite a few times.B次元官网网址�

Challenges included precarious balancing as the trailer crossed bridges, counterflow crossing on a Highway 19 ramp and traffic stoppages including Highway 1. It included clearing streets such as Monterey Avenue of cars for the endeavour.

Handling intersections such as Fort and Foul Bay or Monterey at Oak Bay avenues are roughly 20-minute turns.

B次元官网网址淭he streets in Oak Bay are very, very narrow," said Melgar. "In some sites, we were the size of some of the buildings we were moving along.B次元官网网址�

Plans for the move started in earnest late last fall, Melgar said, and it officially left Lethbridge on July 4, moving at night through to July 16 around 4 a.m. when it parked adjacent to the Oak Bay fire hall.

The entire team entailed about 100 people, from the fire department to heavy haul experts.