Transformer slips off truck, shuts down Highway 18
Narrows between Apple Valley and Victorville shut down for entire day
By CECILIA POTTS/Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE — A 370,000-pound electrical transformer slid off the custom-made big rig transporting it to Arizona on Saturday morning, closing Highway 18 for the rest of the day.
No one was injured in the incident, a California Highway Patrol official said.
The transformer broke from its moorings in Old Town Victorville near 11th Street and the Mojave River at 9:21 a.m., said an official from the California Highway Patrol. Caltrans officials said late Saturday that Highway 18 was scheduled to re-open around 4 a.m. today, but that the road's reopening could be later depending on how long it takes to get the transformer back on the trailer.
Caltrans officials brought in four cranes rated to lift 430,000-pound locomotives to right the transformer back onto the 100-ton big rig carrying it.
"They're still trying to determine how to do this," said Terri Kasinga, a Caltrans public information officer said. "The longer they're out there trying to determine what to do the quicker that midnight hour comes up."
The big rig was moving the transformer from Long Beach to Phoenix, Ariz. at 3 to 6 miles per hour along Highway 18 when the banking of the road and an upgrade caused the transformer's weight to shift, Caltrans officials at the scene said.
Precision Heavy Haulers Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., was hauling the transformer, which was escorted by the California Highway Patrol. From Highway 18, the transformer was scheduled to travel on Highway 247 to Twenty-nine Palms and then on Highway 62 to Parker, Ariz., officials said.
Caltrans approved the route in California, Kasinga said. She said Caltrans receives more than 500 oversized transport request permits each day making it difficult for the agency to check each route.
"It would be impossible for us to inspect each route," she said.
Kasinga said Caltrans did not inspect the specially built big rig — which had 142 wheels — or how the transformer was attached to it.
When the transformer shifted, the I-beams holding it were embedded 8 to 12 inches into the pavement, Kasinga said. After the transformer is righted and is moved, the road will have to be repaired, which also could delay its re-opening time.
Caltrans officials said the elevated curve in the road snapped the kingpin of the trailer. The kingpin is the point that attaches the trailer to the truck. Another Caltrans official said another portion of the trailer bent during the load shift.
Welders were repairing broken portions of the trailer Saturday afternoon, so it could continue on to Arizona, Kasinga said. Late Saturday, Caltrans officials were unsure if the trailer could be repaired.
The specially built big rig and transformer weighs 600,000 pounds and is 280-feet in length, CHP officials said. The load is 20 feet wide and 17 feet high. The hauling company has workers driving ahead of the transformer to lift traffic signals and utility wires so it can pass under them, Kasinga said.
The transformer is needed to help ease rolling brown-outs in the city of Phoenix.
On July 4, a transformer fire at Arizona Public Service destroyed five of 13 transformers at a substation, according to the utility's web site.
The company purchased the new transformer from a company in Oregon and it was transported by barge to Long Beach for transport to Arizona.
Narrows between Apple Valley and Victorville shut down for entire day
By CECILIA POTTS/Staff Writer
VICTORVILLE — A 370,000-pound electrical transformer slid off the custom-made big rig transporting it to Arizona on Saturday morning, closing Highway 18 for the rest of the day.
No one was injured in the incident, a California Highway Patrol official said.
The transformer broke from its moorings in Old Town Victorville near 11th Street and the Mojave River at 9:21 a.m., said an official from the California Highway Patrol. Caltrans officials said late Saturday that Highway 18 was scheduled to re-open around 4 a.m. today, but that the road's reopening could be later depending on how long it takes to get the transformer back on the trailer.
Caltrans officials brought in four cranes rated to lift 430,000-pound locomotives to right the transformer back onto the 100-ton big rig carrying it.
"They're still trying to determine how to do this," said Terri Kasinga, a Caltrans public information officer said. "The longer they're out there trying to determine what to do the quicker that midnight hour comes up."
The big rig was moving the transformer from Long Beach to Phoenix, Ariz. at 3 to 6 miles per hour along Highway 18 when the banking of the road and an upgrade caused the transformer's weight to shift, Caltrans officials at the scene said.
Precision Heavy Haulers Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz., was hauling the transformer, which was escorted by the California Highway Patrol. From Highway 18, the transformer was scheduled to travel on Highway 247 to Twenty-nine Palms and then on Highway 62 to Parker, Ariz., officials said.
Caltrans approved the route in California, Kasinga said. She said Caltrans receives more than 500 oversized transport request permits each day making it difficult for the agency to check each route.
"It would be impossible for us to inspect each route," she said.
Kasinga said Caltrans did not inspect the specially built big rig — which had 142 wheels — or how the transformer was attached to it.
When the transformer shifted, the I-beams holding it were embedded 8 to 12 inches into the pavement, Kasinga said. After the transformer is righted and is moved, the road will have to be repaired, which also could delay its re-opening time.
Caltrans officials said the elevated curve in the road snapped the kingpin of the trailer. The kingpin is the point that attaches the trailer to the truck. Another Caltrans official said another portion of the trailer bent during the load shift.
Welders were repairing broken portions of the trailer Saturday afternoon, so it could continue on to Arizona, Kasinga said. Late Saturday, Caltrans officials were unsure if the trailer could be repaired.
The specially built big rig and transformer weighs 600,000 pounds and is 280-feet in length, CHP officials said. The load is 20 feet wide and 17 feet high. The hauling company has workers driving ahead of the transformer to lift traffic signals and utility wires so it can pass under them, Kasinga said.
The transformer is needed to help ease rolling brown-outs in the city of Phoenix.
On July 4, a transformer fire at Arizona Public Service destroyed five of 13 transformers at a substation, according to the utility's web site.
The company purchased the new transformer from a company in Oregon and it was transported by barge to Long Beach for transport to Arizona.
