Parking was expected to be blocked on two streets in the uptown Hillsboro area Thursday morning due to an oversized load coming through the center of town around noon, the city said in a news release.

The west side of South High Street and the 100 block of East Main Street were being blocked to help the load pass through town.

The load coming up U.S. Route 62 from the south will turn east onto U.S. Route 50, a city spokesperson said.

The convoy was expected to include local utility workers, state road crews, state highway troopers and a massive lowboy tractor-trailer, the People’s Defender in West Union reported.

Other utility companies were expected to accompany the slow-moving convoy, removing low-hanging utility lines to provide an unobstructed path for the trailer, the newspaper said.

It said the trailer is owned by the Barnhart Crane Company and is 150 feet long, 21 feet high and 23 feet wide.

The Tennessee-based company specializes in transporting heavy equipment used in American industry.

The trailer passed through Adams County on Tuesday. It is carrying two large dryers bound for a new 1.4 million-square-foot tissue manufacturing plant in Pickaway County, the newspaper said.

The plant, owned by the Sofidel Group, an Italian tissue manufacturer, is located just south of Circleville.

Local AEP crews from Highland and Adams counties will continue to accompany the rig until it reaches Circleville, the People’s Defender reported.

Reach Jeff Gilliland at 937-402-2522 or [email protected].