Wind turbine mishap snarls traffic

Both lanes of U.S. 54 Highway were blocked for about an hour Monday afternoon, Sept. 27 while workers disconnected one towing apparatus and connected another to a section of wind turbine tower being transported across the country en route to Canada. A worker for Combined Transport of Central Point, Ore., said it was "just a freak accident" that a component of the specialized "Schnaubel" trailer broke while crossing the Fly Creek bridge early that morning. The damage caused the load to fall to the roadway. It took several hundred yards to get the oversized load to the side of the road where it sat most of the day waiting for a truck and different trailer to resume the trip. Both Garwood and Steward wrecker services were on the scene. The driver of the truck was uninjured in the mishap.