A megaload carrying water purification equipment was expected to reach somewhere between Lowell and Wilderness Gateway Campground on U.S. Highway 12 this [Thursday] morning.

The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) offered no projection Wednesday of what the travel schedule for tonight and Friday morning is expected to be.

The oversized shipment deviated from its original travel plan Wednesday when it stopped about halfway between Kamiah and Kooskia rather than going all the way to Kooskia, wrote Adam Rush, a spokesman for ITD at Boise, in an email. Continue reading →

One of the largest shipments ever to roll across U.S. Highway 12 is sitting at a rest stop near Orofino this morning, after crawling through the night from the Port of Wilma, Washington, and into Idaho.

This morning’s Lewiston Tribune reports that the 236-foot-long mega-load is water purification equipment bound for the Kearl Oil Sands Project in Alberta, Canada.

The Tribune reports that the mega-load consumes two lanes of traffic, but is not allowed to delay other highway vehicles more than 15 minutes, per its permit instructions from the Idaho Transportation Department.  The hauler paid $1,070 for the permit, according to the Tribune.

Idaho environmentalists, including Wild Idaho Rising Tide, were planning two demonstrations against highway use by the mega-loads – the first Monday night in Lewiston and another for Wednesay night near Syringa.

Read more: Mega-Load Rolls through the Night on U.S. 12

(By George Prentice, Boise Weekly)

The large megaload staged at the Port of Wilma is not a three-stage Saturn rocket but water purification equipment that began its journey through north central Idaho starting Monday night on U.S. Highway 12 (The Lewiston Tribune/Barry Kough photo).

Water purification equipment bound for a town in the heart of the Canadian oil sands left the Port of Wilma just west of Clarkston at about 10:15 p.m. Monday.

The 236-foot-long megaload edged its way onto Wawawai River Road just west of Red Wolf Bridge.  Crew members walked alongside it, appearing to make adjustments to the equipment.  White lights, looking almost like holiday decorations, hung on the sides.

It is one of the longest shipments ever to take U.S. Highway 12 across Idaho and was expected to be in Orofino by early this morning.  The load is significantly shorter than the 300 feet that the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) initially reported as its length.

In contrast, oil company shipments that previously went on U.S. 12 were 208 and 233 feet long.

This latest cargo, manufactured by Newberg, Oregon-based Harris Thermal, was barged to the Port of Wilma from the Portland area.  It is going to an unspecified end user in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, wrote Olga Haley in an email.  Haley is an employee of a media relations agency handling publicity for Omega Morgan, the transport company. Continue reading →

The Monday, October 22, KRFP Radio Free Moscow Evening Report, New U.S. 12 Megaload, describes the proposed Highway 12 transport of a half-million-pound tar sands water treatment vessel by hauler Omega Morgan.  A KRFP interview of Helen Yost of Wild Idaho Rising Tide discusses its significance to regional challenges of similar industrial corridor ventures and planned resistance activities.  Listen to Megaload to Travel up U.S. 12 Tonight between Lewiston and Montana between 11:57 and 2:40 of the Monday Evening Report.

A 260-ton piece of equipment is winding its way through the inland Northwest this week.  The Idaho Department of Transportation gave the green light to a shipper moving water purification equipment into Canada.

The shipment is about the same size as the so-called “megaloads.”  Those were pieces of an oil processing facility headed for Canada’s oil sands.  The new shipment will use the same hotly contested scenic route – Idaho’s Highway 12.

Read and listen to more: New ‘Megaload’ to Travel Idaho Scenic Route

(By Jessica Robinson, Northwest Public Radio)

Nighttime traffic is expected to be slowed next week on U.S. Highway 12, as a megaload takes a four-night journey across north central Idaho.

The 20-foot-wide, 300-foot-long, 22-foot-high shipment weighing 520,000 pounds will be carrying water purification equipment headed for Canada, according to a news release from the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD).

It will travel between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. each night, leaving Monday from the Port of Wilma just west of Clarkston and entering Idaho on Down River Road before the journey to Orofino on U.S. 12.

The second leg of the trip is from Orofino to Kooskia, the third portion goes from Kooskia to milepost 127, and the fourth part will take it to the Montana border. Continue reading →

The Idaho Transportation Department has issued a permit today for a mega-load to roll across Idaho from the Port of Wilma in Washington, entering Idaho on Route 128, and along U.S. Highway 12 to the Montana border.  But this time, the shipment – which weighs approximately 520,000 pounds – is water purification equipment destined for northern Alberta.

The load, which has been shipped up the Columbia River, is expected to leave the Port of Wilma beginning Monday, October 22, and take four days to reach the Montana border before heading north.

The mega-load, which is 300 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 22 feet high, will be accompanied by three flagging teams, three pilot vehicles, two vehicles with portable signs, and the Idaho State Police.

Read more: Idaho Transportation Department Greenlights Mega-Load for U.S. Highway 12

(By George Prentice, Boise Weekly)