How Do You Move a 14-Ton Magnet? BNL Finds Out

Brookhaven drivers heading home late Sunday may have gotten a rare glimpse at the mind-blowing forces behind the science happening at Brookhaven National Labs. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's started the painstaking process of moving Brookhaven National Lab's 14-ton electromagnet ring from the Upton laboratories to Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Illinois, reports Newsday.
The electromagnet - made of up aluminum, steel and superconducting coils - was loaded onto a truck with a setup specially designed to minimize the chance of damaged that can result if the ring wobbles as little as one-eighth of an inch. 
The William Floyd Parkway was briefly shut down around 12:15 a.m. Monday morning so the ring could be transported six miles to Smith Point Park off the Atlantic Ocean. 

It will be loaded onto a boat that will sail around the Atlantic coast and up the Mississippi River to its final destination, a journey costing taxpayers $3 million. 
Andre Salles, a Patch blogger and spokesman for Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, said the electromagnet's journey posses no danger to the public because it is not plugged into a power source. He lays out details of the ring's journey through Illinois. 

Read more on Newsday [subscription required] about the BNL's 14-ton electromagnet.