Windmill turbine blade accident prompts closer review of large loads on Route 982 in Derry Township

PennDOT says it will require a more extensive review before permitting any oversize load longer than 100 feet to travel through a sharp 90-degree curve in Derry Township.

The change comes after a massive wind turbine blade recently damaged an adjacent business when a truck driver was unable to negotiate the turn.

Permits for hauling such large loads over the Route 982 curve in the village of Bradenville no longer will be issued through PennDOT’s Automated Permit Routing/Analysis System without additional scrutiny— at least temporarily.

PennDOT “will conduct a traffic study in the area to confirm the dimensions and, if necessary, implement this restriction permanently,” said Nicole Haney, spokesperson for PennDOT District 12 in Uniontown.

The automated system was used to issue a permit for the route that resulted in the southbound turbine blade getting stuck in Bradenville on July 8, causing a detour. But, according to PennDOT, there was a discrepancy in some information included in the permit application.

“Considering that the load became stuck on Route 982, it appears that the size of the actual load was larger than the reported 159 feet, 4 inches in length,” Haney stated.

Also, she said, the load was described in the application as a “paper machine roll,” not a turbine blade.

Hauling company CRST Expedited of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, sought the permit through West Chester Permit of Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s a common practice for haulers to use such a third-party permitting service, Haney said.

“(The system) analyzed the route submitted by the permit service and found no restrictions based on the application’s load dimensions, and the permit was auto-issued,” she said.

If the permit service had opted to have the automated system generate the route, it would not have included Route 982, she added.

A spokesman at West Chester Permit declined comment. Messages left Thursday with the trucking company weren’t immediately returned.

The turbine blade caused light damage to an exterior wall at Zeb’s auto shop, according to state police. Shop owner George Piper said the blade penetrated about 1 foot through the wall.

Once the blade was free of the snag, the rig hauling it backed up along Route 982 and turned around at the township municipal building. Later that day, it returned north on Route 982 and then headed west on Route 22.

Township officials learned the blade was being shipped from the Ebensburg area to a destination in Iowa. According to PennDOT, the route began at the intersection of Route 160 and Pensacola Road in Cambria County — southwest of Ebensburg.

As of Friday, no citation concerning the turbine blade incident had been filed at the Derry Township office of District Judge Kelly Tua Hammers.

The turbine blade was at the threshold of the 160-foot maximum length qualifying as an oversize load. Anything longer is considered a super load, which triggers additional requirements for obtaining a hauling permit from PennDOT.

Haney said haulers must seek a super load permit directly, not through a third-party service, and those permits are never auto-issued.

The permit application is reviewed by PennDOT’s central permit office and by each district office whose jurisdiction is included along the route.

The application process also involves a windshield route survey, Haney said, “when a hauler drives the route in advance with a height pole that matches the height of their load, to confirm they can safely move through the route.”