Rollover Semi I55 e/b ramp to N/B 90/94

i am still working to figure out this new camera so excuse the not so good pics.

last night there was a rollover semi. i was just getting to bed when the call went out. I love these things and what is even more exciting, it watching the IDOT Minutemen work. I showed up 1 min to late to watch them drag the semi to the next ramp ( a little less than 1/2 mile). remember- IDOT's sole purpous is to open the roads as fast as possable.





IDOT usually relocates any rollover semis by dragging them to the nearest area where there is room to perform the recovery with minimal traffic blockage. I.E.. Ramp, Accident Investigation Site, ect.. their heavy duties are equipped with massive push bumpers. They usually use 2 heavies to relocate a fallen semi. One in the rear to push and one in the front. The one in the front has the 2 winches on the boom lifting the tractor slightly off the ground. Some additional chains attached from the tractor to the rear of the wrecker. The by lifting the tractor, it lessens the resistance and it helps add weight to the drive axels of the wrecker. In this case, IDOT used 2 trucks in the front only. This was because they were not able to get a truck behind the rollover. Some may also wonder �why didn�t they upright it right there instead of dragging it?� good question and the primary reason is that where the truck over turned is on the second level of a triple Decker of expressways and ramps- there is no room to raise any booms up in the air- so dragging is a necessity here. So, since they have to relocate it, they could pull it � mile to the area out from under the bridge and there by closing 2 ramps from I55 to I90/94 or they could do what they did and relocate it just under � mile to the next exit (canal port) and open all traffic immediately

Usually after relocating a rollover- IDOT will let a privet contractor take over the recovery, however, the load was so heavy, metal, and a container, that when they dragged it, it sparked severely. It actually started a very small fire. The decision was made not to wait for the privet tower, but to upright it there and let the FD put out the fire. You can see some of it in the upper rear of the trailer. the trailer was loaded with some sort of large heavy rolls, I�m guessing paper.

 

They did a nice job- remember, there goal is not �damage free� as it is with the privet tow companies. I know they go threw extensive training and they do try and avoid causing any additional damage. But with that said, even though I love these guys and respect them, they are still subject to �My Comments and Criticisms�

 

My Comments and Criticisms,

Remember, I bring these up so we may all learn from them, it is not meant to make anyone look bad- please don�t take them the wrong way

1)      my pet peeve: safety gear- they had more than most towers- they had reflective gear and steal toe boots!! But hard hats and safety glasses- (with that said, I have to admit- I was as close as they were and I did not have any on- so I am more guilty (I did not even have boots or reflective vests on)

2)      I would have used 2 heavies to upright this and a prime reason is that the way the up righted it by lifting strait up, when the rollover reaches a cretin point there is no were for the truck to go because there is no pull to finish the upright and set it down to the ground- the only option is to keep lifting higher so the tires drag towards the wrecker- this puts a lot more resistance on your wrecker and the lift points- this is weird because they had 2 heavies there.

3)      The side wall of the container is especially vulnerable and week because of the dragging. They are thinner and there are holes, so you can not count on them like you could a undamaged container.

4)      This is a suggestion, I would like to make the suggestion that anytime you are going to drag an overturned semi, especially something where it�s a metal container where there will be an abundance of sparking- have the FD wet down the path you are going to take with water or consider using the sand spreader truck to spread sand, that may also help with the sparking.

5)      I want to state that I am a big advocate of quick clearance and  dragging!! I think it is a very underutilized opportunity to open the roads. This gets into incident management and if I get started on that, this post will go on for many pages, so I will leave it at that.

6)      They used snatch blocks- very good

 

nice job guys!!!! See ya in the ditch, be safe out there!