[Vision2020] Megaload module is a megamess

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of today's (April 16, 2011) Moscow-Pullman Daily News.

----------------------------------------------------------

OUR VIEW: Megaload module is a megamess
Sandra Kelly, for the editorial board
Posted on: Saturday, April 16, 2011


Imperial Oil's test module megaload ran into trouble on Tuesday just as
the trip was getting started.

What a surprise.

The test module, at 490,000 pounds, nearly 250 feet long and three stories
tall, was the third-heaviest shipment to ever travel on U.S. Highway 12.
ExxonMobil subsidiary Imperial Oil said it hoped the huge load would
demonstrate that U.S. 12 can handle such cargo safely.

So far, not so good.

About three miles east of Orofino, the transport, which took up two lanes
of traffic, hit a wire supporting an Avista power pole. The pole broke and
the wire, which carried no electricity, was flung over a high-voltage
power line, shorting it out and causing a power outage.

For about five hours 1,300 or so homes and businesses around Pierce and
Weippe in north central Idaho were without electricity.

It gets chilly up there in the wee hours of the morning. A little
electricity powering the heater is pretty nice to have. Never mind
counting on the clock radio to get you up for work.

Thanks Imperial Oil.

Besides, traffic was delayed an hour instead of the 15 minutes the Idaho
Department of Transportation allowed. Now the convoy is parked near
Kamiah, but is expected to roll again Monday night.

Pius Rolheiser, a spokesman for Imperial Oil, said they hope the
investigation as to how this happened will help adjust plans for future
moves.

Here's a thought - in the future, don't transport these megaloads on U.S.
12. Maybe, just maybe, the folks who live in that area knew what they were
talking about when they said loads that big wouldn't work on the narrow
road.

The Idaho Transportation Department should have listened to their concerns
about traffic delays, about width and height and the twisty nature of the
scenic byway.

Setbacks like this have many in Lewiston worried that special interest
groups can postpone oversized shipments.

"It is critical that we preserve our freight corridors now and in the
future for our economic vitality," said Doug Mattoon, the executive
director of Valley Vision.

Officials should also consider the future and vitality of scenic U.S. 12.

Imperial Oil is already downsizing many shipments so they can transport
them up U.S. 95 through Moscow to Interstate 90. Tuesday's experiment
proves they should convert all of them and stay off U.S. Highway 12.

We wonder what their test runs up this way will prove.

----------------------------------------------------------

Dreys round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho


"The Pessimist complains about the wind, the Optimist expects it to
changeand the Realist adjusts his sails."

 - Unknown