Megaload ready to travel again

March 3, 2011

LOWELL – A mega-load of ConocoPhillips was poised to cover a second consecutive segment of travel Wednesday after more than a week of being grounded for weather.

The half drum bound for a Billings, Mont., refinery went from Kooskia to seven miles east of Lowell Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. It was expected to go another 30 miles east on U.S. Highway 12 starting at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

It is supposed to take another two times on the road before the oversized shipment reaches the Montana border. There it will join the second half of the drum. The two pieces of the drum will convoy together to Billings in a journey anticipated to take about two weeks.

The oversized load is only allowed to travel between 10 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. and has to pull over at least every 15 minutes to permit traffic to pass.