Three More Kearl Loads Leave Lewiston (Updated)

Update from ExxonMobil: Due to adverse weather conditions, the three shipments that were scheduled to leave the Port of Lewiston after 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 17, will need to be rescheduled to a later date.

Three shipments are scheduled to leave the Port of Lewiston in Idaho, weather permitting, after 8 p.m. on Thursday, November 17, traveling north on Highway 95. The shipments will travel independently from each other except when they move through the City of Moscow in a single convoy.

The first and third shipments will be transported on conventional trailers, according to an ExxonMobil statement. Each is approximately 24 feet wide, 14 feet high and 80 feet long. Both shipments have a gross vehicle weight of approximately 35 tons. The second and larger shipment will also be transported on a conventional trailer. It is approximately 24 feet wide, 15 feet high and 110 feet long.

The three trailers will be accompanied by state police, pilot vehicles and flaggers on their way to a parking area just west of the Idaho / Montana state line and stage there before entering Montana. Thursday marks the third night of convoys this week from the port where the modules were broken down to allow them to travel the Interstate. From Montana, the shipments will cross the Canadian border and proceed to the jobsite in Alberta.

Photo shows conventional-size loads in Montana bound for the Kearl Oil Sands project in Alberta. Courtesy of the Montana Department of Transportation.