A heavy equipment transport firm is seeking permission from the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) to ship a megaload through north central Idaho on U.S. Highway 12.

Omega Morgan wants to move a 610,250-pound water purification vessel — 300 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 22 feet tall — from the Port of Lewiston to the Montana border, then to northern Alberta, Canada, according to an ITD email on Monday.

The vessel is being constructed and is expected to move through Idaho late next summer.

The firm hasn’t indicated how many days the trip would take, or where the vessel is being built or who it’s being built for, according to the email.

The Port of Lewiston has been contacted about the megaload.  It received an inquiry about pricing, but that communication occurred last year, said David Doeringsfeld, manager of the Port of Lewiston.

ITD will obtain more information before it makes a decision, according to the email.  “The transportation department has let Omega Morgan know it needs to hire an engineering firm to do the bridge analysis. … Companies are being asked to hire an engineering firm in cases where the work required to evaluate a shipment takes more time than ITD staff have available.”

Megaload opponents have questioned if the fees ITD charges adequately compensate the agency for resources it uses in overseeing extra-large hauls.

(The Lewiston Tribune)