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Consultant Patrick Balducci of Battelle Group told the governor’s transportation funding task force just now that axle weights matter, not just total weight of a truck compared to total weight of a car, when calculating impact on pavement damage. But, under questioning from committee members, he said the rule of thumb is that one fully loaded axle on a big truck is equal to the pavement damage of 10,000 passenger cars. Task force members were stunned. “It’s been measured,” Balducci told them. “For years, millions of trucks have been measured. These are engineering calculations that have been studied by the federal government beginning in the 1950s and continuing today.” When task force member Jim Riley asked what the difference might be if that figure were off by 25 percent - say, if a loaded truck axle were equal to just 7,500 passenger cars - Balducci said that would be contrary to “50 years of research on the part of the Federal Highway Administration.”
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mtngardener on July 28 at 9:20 p.m.
So that means the gargantuan loads per axle proposed for HWY 12 (up the Lochsa) will do How much damage?
Visad on July 29 at 11:21 a.m.
What also needs noting is that moving these mega truck loads over Rt 12 requires drastic widening etc of the road, thus ruining it as a scenic byway. In addition, more of such trucking will follow as night follows day. The scenic beauty of the road and its byways will be gone forever.
Is this what we want? Must Idaho continue to be a sacrifice zone for big industry, especially the oil industries with their current golden reputation? These fat cat corporations are trying to save money on the cheap, at Idaho’s expense. Let them dock their Korean machines in Vancouver BC and take Canadian roads to Alberta.
Visad on July 29 at 11:32 a.m.
While I’m at it, I should add the following figures that would apply to the Montana part of moving the oil sands machinery to Alberta, with the point that the same road requirements would apply in Idaho, as well:
MDT (MT dept of transportation) has stated that the question of issuing 32-J permits for the Kearl project is limited to whether the roads and bridges along the Montana route can accommodate loads that will be up to 24 feet wide, nearly 30 feet high, will weigh as much as 168 tons and require Montana Highway Patrol escorts.
How about it folks? Can we imagine the damage this road expansion would do to the Rt. 12 Scenic Byway?
JeninMT on July 29 at 9:04 p.m.
I think we all can see where Gov Otter is going with the Tar Sands shipments - the reality surrounding his “logic” is what baffles me! Let’s get some temporary revenue for the states, destroy the tourism and outdoor industries in the process and then stand back and see what’s left of the roads the state already can’t afford to maintain? Oh, that’s right, Conoco & IO/EM will step up to the plate and pay for any damage they may cause because, after all, they have a reliable history of being a stand-up responsible sort of corporation. Hmm - now what kind of education do you have to have for this job? Obviously simple mathematics wasn’t part of it.
Thank you to all the people of Idaho for fighting so hard to stop this nightmare! We are all working hard on the Montana side to keep this from happening as well. Keep up the good work!