By any chance were you traveling westbound on I-24 in western Kentucky on Wednesday, only to be waved off the interstate and onto a paralleling highway for about 13 miles?

The reason is shown in the photo: That's an eastbound oversize load crossing the I-24 Tennessee River Bridge using the westbound lanes. The state's Department of Transportation had to let the heavy-haul rig use "your" lanes because the load couldn't squeeze by some maintenance equipment on eastbound span.

Lack of clearance was discovered Wednesday morning as the load, a large boiler weighing over 400,000 pounds on a 24-foot-wide platform trailer, was moving toward it. It was en route from Tennesee to a site in Ohio.

This morning several agencies scrambled to assist the carrier, Diamond Heavy Haul Inc., of Bowling Green, according to a media advisory issued by DOT.

"After consulting with Kentucky Transportation Cabinet engineers, Kentucky State Police, and KSP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement, plans were worked out to close a 13-mile section of I-24 for about an hour and allow the truck to cross over to the westbound lanes where it traveled eastbound for about 3 miles," the advisory said.

"The maneuver required westbound I-24 traffic to be detoured along US 62 from Exit 40 to Exit 27 between Eddyville and Calvert City.

"The eastbound lanes were also closed for a short time to allow the truck to cross through the median for the short 3-mile jog to the next crossover, where it returned to the eastbound lanes near the I-24 Cumberland River Bridge.

"As it continued on eastward along I-24, the superload and escort caravan backed up traffic," the advisory said. "The huge truck had to slow to a crawl when it crossed bridges or went under an overpass.

"The truck [trailer] hauling the huge load had 18 axles and a rear steering unit to help it make the required turns.  The superload exited off I-24 at Cadiz to take US 68 East around Hopkinsville and on toward Bowling Green." 

Subsequent planned routing was north on I-65 to Elizabethtown; east on the Bluegrass Parkway; and north on US 127 to Frankfort. 

From there, it planned to follow I-64 east to I-75 north and cross the Ohio River at Cincinnati, then to its final destination in Ohio. The caravan planned to stop in Cave City tonight.

So now you know.