Giant Rock Getting New Home at LACMA

A 340-ton boulder will move from Riverside County to Los Angeles

A 340-ton Riverside rock will soon be the newest edition to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The two-and-a-half story tall chunk of granite was discovered by an artist after a blasting operation five years ago at Valley Stone Materials in Riverside County.

“We used dynamite, and it just fell down,” said Steph Vander, a quarry worker.

The artists decided to make it part of a permanent outdoor display at the museum.

Work crews will transport the rock, which is attached to a special trailer, along a complicated 106 miles route that will take it through three counties.

"The guys have been building the transport since late this summer and it's taken them a good four months just to get it to the point where it can roll," said Vander.

The transport truck will move at a whopping seven miles per hour during the journey. Originally the rock was to begin moving in October but LACMA had difficulty obtaining some of the transport permits because the weight of the rock exceeds the capacity of many local bridges.

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Crews now expect the rock will roll sometime around January 4. 

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