Two megaloads reached Montana after a 172-mile journey on U.S. Highway 12 in north central Idaho.

Both extra-big shipments left Idaho sometime late Wednesday night or early Thursday morning, said Idaho Transportation Department spokesman Adam Rush in Boise.

One load started the night at Kooskia and the other was just 12 miles west of the Montana state line, Rush said.

“It did not have far to go at all,” he said.

One load was originally expected to leave the Port of Wilma just after 10 pm on Monday and reach the Montana state line by 5:30 am on Tuesday.

The other was supposed to follow, starting just after 10 pm on Tuesday.

The first left on Monday and made it to Kooskia in its first segment of travel.  The second left Tuesday and covered all but 12 miles of the route.

Rush has offered no reason for the delays.  The megaloads took up two lanes of traffic as they traveled and had to pull over every 15 minutes to allow other highway vehicles to pass.

They were carrying water purification vessels made by an unidentified company to an undisclosed destination.

At this time, the transportation department is not considering requests for similarly-sized rigs to use U.S. Highway 12, Rush said.

(By The Lewiston Tribune)