A tractor trailer hauling an oversize load has been stopped on the side of the road indefinitely, after it departed the yard before the Rhode Island Department of Transportation approved its permit request.
It happened on Thursday morning on Interstate 95 in Warwick, Rhode Island.
According to local TurnTo10 news, the 560,000-pound generator was being transported by New York-based Bay Crane Services Inc., a company that specializes in oversize loads.
The enormous load caused some traffic delays as motorists slowed to gawk at the oversized cargo. One of those motorists happened to be one of RIDOT’s engineers, who noticed that the load seemed unusually large.
After looking into the issue, RIDOT confirmed that Bay Crane allowed the load to hit the road before the permits were approved.
That WAY overweight stuck truck (background) had pending permit app, but **wasn't approved. RIDOT says company took it over bridge anyways.. pic.twitter.com/EkfgkCK50E
— Crystal Bui (@NBC10_Crystal) June 29, 2017
“I could care less what made them do what they want to do,” said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti. “I know they’re not going any further.”
A spokesperson for Bay Crane claims that the company expected the permits to be approved, so they allowed the truck to leave the yard due to scheduling and time frame concerns.
RIDOT says that the truck was planning to cross around 40 bridges, some of which have been deemed structurally deficient. If the truck had been allowed to continue, “a bridge collapse would have been likely,” they added.
It may take days, or even weeks, to get the tractor trailer and its load off of the highway without damaging the roadway, RIDOT claims. They are also looking into the possibility of disassembling the generator in order to remove it in smaller pieces.