Rock Springs, Wyo.-An oversized load en route from Idaho to the J.R. Simplot Co. phosphate fertilizer plant near Rock Springs, Wyo., caused a lot of confusion and led to traffic getting routed through Green River for more than two hours late Friday, Feb. 13. Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Keane said the flat bed truck, owned and operated by Energy Transportation of Casper, was hauling a large pressure tank 23 feet tall and more than 20 feet wide. The truck could not get under an overpass on Interstate 80 at LaBarge Road and had to stop. I-80 was closed for two miles as nearby mines were changing shifts. All eastbound traffic was diverted into Green River on the Jamestown Road and then back onto I-80. Even if it had been able to clear the overpass, the tank could not have gone through tunnels or under other overpasses between Green River and Rock Springs, Keane said. After traffic was rerouted, the driver of the oversized load had to back up and exit Interstate 80. “Once we got the truck off the highway, we left it to the engineers to figure out how to get the tank to the plant,” Keane said. After the truck exited the interstate it took a circuitous route to the Simplot plant, according to a company source. The evaporation unit finally arrived there on Monday afternoon, Feb. 16. Simplot said the company has another one ordered, but it is not yet built.
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