Posted: Oct 22, 2012 12:30 PM by Dennis Bragg - KPAX News
Updated: Oct 30, 2012 9:07 PM
BOISE, ID- A massive load of water purification equipment is set to start its journey across Central Idaho Monday night, navigating the same U.S. Highway 12 route over Lolo Pass that's been subject to lawsuits and controversy for nearly two years.
While this shipment doesn't have the attached controversy of oil equipment headed for the "tar sands" of Alberta, the size of the load is on par with ExxonMobile's trucks.
The Idaho Department of Transportation issued a permit to Omega Morgan for the shipment last week, giving the company permission to start moving the equipment from the Port of Wilma in Washington State, starting Monday night.
The plans call for moving the load up U.S. Highway 95 to the junction with U.S. Highway 12 in Lewiston, and then moving east across the state, passing into Montana on Lolo Pass.
The shipment weighs 520,000 pounds, is 300' long, 20' wide and 22' feet high. That's comparable to the ConocoPhillips shipments of refinery equipments that passed over Lolo and through Missoula in 2011, and the Exxon "test module" that crossed Lolo but was stopped by lawsuits.
IDT says the shipment will travel over four-nights, from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. and will be accompanied by flagging teams and pilot cars, as well as an ambulance. As with earlier shipments, the rig can't cause delays of more than 15-minutes and will have to use turnouts to allow cars to pass.
The travel plan is for the load to be in the winding Lochsa section of the highway and ascending the pass on Thursday night.
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