I-5 Heavy Recovery Team Clears Up 4000 lb Steel Coils

Baker & Baker’s heavy recovery team responded to a call on I-5 in Hubbard last week. A curtain side truck carrying several 4000 lb steel coils came to a sudden stop after a dog ran out onto the highway. The force of the stop was so great that it caused some of the steel coils to break out of their straps!

Three of the massive steel coils managed to break through the curtained trailer and roll out onto the interstate! The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODoT) reached out to our heavy recovery team to recover the coils and clear the scene.

The first step on the team’s agenda was to ensure that traffic was not blocked on the I-5. They quickly moved both the truck and the coils onto the shoulder of the road. Some of the steel coils had unfurled during the crash. Without the proper machinery, rolling thick steel is impossible so our team needed to find a solution.

The team spoke with the driver and they concluded that the best course of action would be to cut the unfurled rolls into smaller pieces. Using a chop saw, the heavy recovery team began to work their way through the steel coils before loading them onto their flatbed.

Safety is always our number one priority. Motorists often ignore Slow Down and Move Over laws, making working on interstates particularly dangerous. With ODoT’s permission, the heavy recovery team decided to move the coils and the tractor trailer to a nearby weigh station. Once at the safety of the weigh station, the team was able to safely transfer the coils back onto the truck.

In total, the recovery took a whopping 7 hours! Fantastic work out there team! You made us proud!

Details I-5 Heavy Recovery Team Clears Up 4000 lb Steel Coils

A heavy recovery team was requested on Interstate 5 in Hubbard, Oregon, after a load shift accident. The recovery team was dispatched along with a flatbed truck, a heavy wrecker, and a medium wrecker.

Once on site, the heavy duty recovery team ran a full assessment of the situation. They noted that they needed to get the steel coils and the tractor trailer onto the shoulder of the road. The steel of the coils was too strong so the heavy duty recovery team used a chop saw to break the coils down into smaller pieces.

Once the coils were cut, the team used their winch to drag them onto the flat bed. The team secured the coils in place on the flatbed.

The second part of the job took place at a nearby weigh station. The recovery team was able to transport the coils to the weigh station prior to reloading them onto the tractor trailer. With all the coils back on the trailer and the load shift corrected, the driver was able to continue on his way.

The heavy duty recovery team made their way back to Baker & Baker headquarters. They cleaned their equipment in order to be ready for the next job.