Over the course of three days, an 820-tonne polypropylene splitter tied up traffic and turned heads as it was trucked from Edmonton to near Fort Saskatchewan.

“We saw children in the windows of schools looking, watching this go by. It was actually phenomenal,” said Bernard Perron with Inter Pipeline Ltd.

It was the biggest load to ever hit Alberta’s highways, but company officials say it arrived without issue. 

“I think what we saw on TV the last few days with all the police around was the most high profile car chase in Alberta’s history with a peak speed of 15 kilometres per hour,” said Perron. 

He went on to thank drivers for their patience. “It created an amazing buzz I think we were all amazed at how mesmerized the entire province was and we got incredible feedback and support.”

“Constructed in Alberta, moved by Albertans to an Alberta project,” said Premier Rachel Notley.

The polypropylene splitter will soon have a very important role at the Inter Pipeline’s Heartland Petrochemical Complex.

“The splitter is a symbol of a bright future for the petro chemical industry in Alberta,” said Perron.

 “It’s created 180 full time operational jobs around Fort Saskatchewan and more than 2,300 full time construction jobs province wide,” said Notley.

The new plant will turn Alberta propane into recyclable plastics.

“And that plastic is going to be used around the world to make a wide range of products from kids toys to auto parts, containers to electronics,” Notley said.

A year into construction, the petrochemical complex won’t be complete until the end of 2021. The $3.5-billion project was spurred by the province’s royalty credit program.

“Because interest in this petro chemical upgrading program has exceeded expectations so much, a clear signal that companies from around the world want to invest in Alberta, we have since quadrupled the size of that petro chemical diversification program that we first launched in 2016,” the Premier said.

Premier Notley hopes it will lay the groundwork for more plastic manufacturing in the province in the future.