NYT -- For Wind Turbines Trucks, Trains Pose Hazard ...............................................
July 31, 2009, 9:10 am
For Wind Turbines Trucks, Trains Pose Hazard
By Kate Galbraith
As I reported last week, the logistics of trucking giant wind turbines around the country can be challenging. On Wednesday, an accident happened in southern Nebraska: a train traveling at 60 miles an hour hit a semi carrying part of a wind turbine tower, according to a local report. A pilot car accompanying the turbine part had given the truck the go-ahead to cross, a state trooper told a Nebraska television station, and the back of the truck’s trailer was hit. Both locomotive and semi were “totaled,” the station reported.
Railroad crossings can pose a hazard for these long, heavy loads. Last year, as I reported, a truck carrying part of a turbine tower got stuck on the hump of a railroad crossing in Minnesota. An oncoming train stopped just in time.
That near-miss “definitely got our attention and discussion ensued on how to prevent another episode,” said Ted Coulianos, a supervisor in the oversize/overweight permitting section of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, in an e-mail message.
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