340-Ton 'Rock' To Start Slow Roll Towards LACMA After Logistics Delay

RIVERSIDE (CBS) — A 340-ton boulder isn't likely to be taken for granite when it makes its debut on the Miracle Mile after being delayed by over half a year.

KNX 1070's John Brooks reports the epic journey from Riverside to Los Angeles could take as long as two weeks.

The boulder known simply as "The Rock" stands 21 feet high and weighs over 680,000 pounds and will be loaded on a custom-made 200-foot-long flatbed trailer with over 200 wheels when it rolls out next Tuesday night.

It was initially scheduled to leave last August before being delayed by the sheer logistics of transporting a two-story-high boulder across such a long distance.

The 100-mile journey will weave through 21 cities and three counties before the rock finally comes to its final destination as the centerpiece of a new outdoor art installation here at the L.A. County Museum of Art (LACMA) on Wilshire Boulevard.

Crew member Rick Albrecht will be among the moving team that will have to take down traffic signs, overhead wires and other obstacles and then reinstall them once the transporter moves on.

Albrecht said the rock will be hanging from 4-inch steel cables inside the giant transporter that will be escorted by eight California Highway Patrol officers as it moves only 7 miles each night during the journey.

"It's the first time I've moved anything going to a museum, rock or otherwise," said Albrecht.

Once the boulder arrives at LACMA, it will be placed atop a concrete underground walkway to allow visitors to view the rock from below and give it the illusion of levitation.