Megaload Information
During early December 2023, a Korean-manufactured steam boiler transported as a megaload has been slowly moving north from southwestern Montana toward the Rocky Mountain front and a tar sands exploitation site in northern Alberta, Canada. According to the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT), several local, national, and international articles, and eyewitness conversations, the rectangular, oversized load weighs about 360,000 pounds, stands more than 22 feet tall, and spans 29 feet of width [1-7, videos at 3]. While suspended on a main frame between two 12-axle, front and rear trailers with numerous wheels, tires, and at least four pull and push semi-trucks, the combined transport weighs up to one million pounds and stretches almost 500 feet long.
Although some observers say that the cargo originated after ocean shipping at a Corpus Christi, Texas, port (purportedly one of few North American places that can handle transferring such a large load), media sources report that a Scappoose, Oregon, company called OXBO Mega Transport Solutions is bringing the megaload from Vancouver, Washington, over the U.S.-Canadian border. Apparently, the behemoth has parked all summer at a DuBois, Idaho, rest area, indicating that it previously traveled across southern Idaho, perhaps like prior megaloads, from the Port of Umatilla, Oregon. Wild Idaho Rising Tide (WIRT) and allies, among thousands of Northwest residents who have protested megaloads and tar sands mining since 2010, are working to further discern the identity, owner, origin, and destination of this fossil fuels industry monster.
The onslaught of this heavy industrial equipment poses significant challenges to local traffic and infrastructure, as the massive size of this machinery requires specialized, hopefully expensive, transportation permit arrangements, lane and entire road closures, and delays, stops, and temporary rerouting to alternate routes of other traffic. This transportation fiasco is also imposing planned, overnight, electricity service outages on notified residents and businesses in its vicinity, during the cold of winter. Utility crews are de-energizing and lifting power lines and other electrical components out of the way for supposed safety, mostly affecting street lights and nearby power for no more than 15 minutes. However, unforeseen circumstances, such as megaload equipment failure and/or severe weather conditions, could potentially inflict unexpected power supply interruptions and further inconveniences, particularly in rural areas with limited infrastructure near megaload-abused highways. Even larger urban populations, as in the Helena and surrounding area of Toston, Townsend, Winston, and Wolf Creek, could experience brief power outages from Thursday through Wednesday, December 7 to 13. Preparations for such off-grid living could include provisions like non-perishable food, bottled water, medicine, flashlights, batteries, fully-charged communication devices, and other precautions and resources ready for any emergency losses.
This impactful megaload and its extensive convoy of flaggers, pilot trucks, and accompanying vehicles without police escort begin their dark, regional passage every Sunday through Thursday night at 9:30 pm, to avoid disruptions of daytime travel. The exact itinerary of this (and other similar?) transport varies with weather circumstances, daily changes, and the remainder of the later scheduled move. Justifiably concerned citizens can visit the MDT 511 map and application and read the Oversized Load Movement web page under Alerts, to find further, revised information [2]. Transport proponents expect the megaload to conclude its journey through Montana by December 16 and arrive at its final destination by the end of the month. WIRT has mapped and lists here its recent and upcoming path across Montana [8]. Continue reading →
Wild Idaho Rising Tide 