Thursday, July 21, 2011

32 tons of toilet paper rolls remain in river after truck accident

A five-mile stretch of Idaho's Wild and Scenic Lochsa River remained cluttered by megarolls of toilet paper Tuesday, four days after a truck driver from Texas lost control on a tight turn and dumped the load. The Freightliner truck he was driving took out roughly 100 feet of guardrail before overturning and sliding into the river, dumping the load of eight rolls of unprocessed toilet paper, each weighing 8,000 pounds. The road was closed while the truck and trailer were removed from the river. Two of the rolls were fished out with a cable and tow truck before they became too saturated, said Don Whitney, a fisheries biologist for Idaho Fish and Game. "They estimated that once these rolls are waterlogged they weigh about 30,000 pounds apiece," Whitney said. The two rolls fell apart as they were removed...more

2 comments:

Tick said...

I've driven Hwy 12 between Missoula, Mt and Lewiston, Id many times. It roughly parallels the trail that Lewis and Clark followed on their quest to find a northern route to the Pacific. Parts of it are as beautiful and as trecherous as any highway I've ever travelled. The huge log trucks can be frightening when one comes barrelling down behind you. There are no shoulders and in many places it's straight up on one side and straight down on the other.

Even considering allowing oil transport is insane.

Tick said...

I stand corrected, oil field equip. not oil transport. Just as bad when you consider the size loads the oil companies haul through my Piney Woods of East Texas. It's hard to imagine a low boy crawling up hwy 12 with anywhere from 34 to 40 wheels on the ground.