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Tankers tear down lines, poles
  
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Conroe Courier
By Nancy Flake
Two oversized tanker trucks pulled down telephone and live power lines and poles on a couple of Conroe streets just blocks from each other around noon Tuesday.
After Conroe police released the tanker drivers from the first scene, their trucks snagged more lines a short distance away.
The tankers, licensed and permitted by the Texas Department of Transportation, met the size requirements of their license, which is why they were released, Conroe Police Sgt. Bob Berry said.
The trucks, owned by Louisiana Transport of Houston, departed Cleveland and headed west on Texas 105 East. Berry and witnesses on the scene said one of the trucks snagged a Consolidated Communications telephone line near 10th Street, breaking the line and an adjacent pole.
The broken pole struck another utility pole holding an Entergy Texas electrical line and transformer, snapping those lines and additional poles, Berry said.
In all, the truck brought down five poles at the first location, he said.
“They initially brought down the telephone lines, which caused a chain reaction with the power lines, the poles and the transformer,” Berry said. “It’s our belief that either through age or storm damage (from Hurricane Ike), the lines were lower than they should have been.
“There’s the possibility that they (the drivers) may not face any charges.”
A Louisiana Transport spokesman declined to comment.
There were no injuries, Berry said.
Conroe Police on the scene checked the tankers’ TxDOT permit, measured the tankers and determined they were legal, Berry said, then allowed them to go on their way.
Bob Udell, Consolidated’s president of Texas telephone operations, said there never had been any problems with those particular Consolidated Communications lines in 15 years.
“Those lines were inspected quite a few times (after Hurricane Ike),” Udell said. “There’s never been an issue with them. Something’s odd here.”
Anything above 15 feet is considered an “abnormal” height, Udell said, and his employees on the scene were told by police that the tankers were 15 feet, 8 inches high.
“That’s an unusually high load, and trucks that high usually have feelers that push cables out of the way,” he said. “There are limited areas where a load that high can go.
“We think it’s interesting that this abnormal height wouldn’t have caused any attention.”
Consolidated Communications officials will continue to investigate the incident by checking facts with Conroe police, contacting the trucking company and taking action “if we think it is appropriate,” Udell said.
“If we find there has been damage to us, the normal course is to pursue reimbursement.”
While there were no injuries, a driver with B&F Trucking out of Katy came very close to being hit when falling lines and a pole hit the dump truck he was driving east on Texas 105.
B&F co-owner Rafael Viesca, who was driving a second dump truck behind the first, said the utility lines got hooked on the tankers, which dragged them, bringing down the poles and additional lines.
The lines and a pole hit the B&F truck driven by Victor Martinez. Viesca said the lines cut the truck’s hood and cut into its motor, causing it to leak motor oil.
The pole hit the truck’s windshield, pushing it into the driver’s compartment.
“(Martinez) was lucky. It missed him by this much,” said Viesca, holding his hands a few inches apart to illustrate how close the windshield came to hitting Martinez.
Milstead Towing removed Martinez’s dump truck from the scene.
Approximately 40 minutes after the first lines were pulled down on Texas 105 East, the same tankers snagged lines on Second Street at Sherman Street, Berry said.
Four businesses at Texas 105 East and 10th Street lost telephone service, Consolidated Communications spokeswoman Laura ZuHone said. Three businesses at that location also lost electrical power, Entergy Texas spokeswoman Renee Powers said.
Both said services were scheduled to be restored early Tuesday evening.
Neither ZuHone nor Powers said businesses or residences at the intersection of Second Street and Sherman Street lost service.
After Conroe police released the tanker drivers from the first scene, their trucks snagged more lines a short distance away.
The tankers, licensed and permitted by the Texas Department of Transportation, met the size requirements of their license, which is why they were released, Conroe Police Sgt. Bob Berry said.
The trucks, owned by Louisiana Transport of Houston, departed Cleveland and headed west on Texas 105 East. Berry and witnesses on the scene said one of the trucks snagged a Consolidated Communications telephone line near 10th Street, breaking the line and an adjacent pole.
The broken pole struck another utility pole holding an Entergy Texas electrical line and transformer, snapping those lines and additional poles, Berry said.
In all, the truck brought down five poles at the first location, he said.
“They initially brought down the telephone lines, which caused a chain reaction with the power lines, the poles and the transformer,” Berry said. “It’s our belief that either through age or storm damage (from Hurricane Ike), the lines were lower than they should have been.
“There’s the possibility that they (the drivers) may not face any charges.”
A Louisiana Transport spokesman declined to comment.
There were no injuries, Berry said.
Conroe Police on the scene checked the tankers’ TxDOT permit, measured the tankers and determined they were legal, Berry said, then allowed them to go on their way.
Bob Udell, Consolidated’s president of Texas telephone operations, said there never had been any problems with those particular Consolidated Communications lines in 15 years.
“Those lines were inspected quite a few times (after Hurricane Ike),” Udell said. “There’s never been an issue with them. Something’s odd here.”
Anything above 15 feet is considered an “abnormal” height, Udell said, and his employees on the scene were told by police that the tankers were 15 feet, 8 inches high.
“That’s an unusually high load, and trucks that high usually have feelers that push cables out of the way,” he said. “There are limited areas where a load that high can go.
“We think it’s interesting that this abnormal height wouldn’t have caused any attention.”
Consolidated Communications officials will continue to investigate the incident by checking facts with Conroe police, contacting the trucking company and taking action “if we think it is appropriate,” Udell said.
“If we find there has been damage to us, the normal course is to pursue reimbursement.”
While there were no injuries, a driver with B&F Trucking out of Katy came very close to being hit when falling lines and a pole hit the dump truck he was driving east on Texas 105.
B&F co-owner Rafael Viesca, who was driving a second dump truck behind the first, said the utility lines got hooked on the tankers, which dragged them, bringing down the poles and additional lines.
The lines and a pole hit the B&F truck driven by Victor Martinez. Viesca said the lines cut the truck’s hood and cut into its motor, causing it to leak motor oil.
The pole hit the truck’s windshield, pushing it into the driver’s compartment.
“(Martinez) was lucky. It missed him by this much,” said Viesca, holding his hands a few inches apart to illustrate how close the windshield came to hitting Martinez.
Milstead Towing removed Martinez’s dump truck from the scene.
Approximately 40 minutes after the first lines were pulled down on Texas 105 East, the same tankers snagged lines on Second Street at Sherman Street, Berry said.
Four businesses at Texas 105 East and 10th Street lost telephone service, Consolidated Communications spokeswoman Laura ZuHone said. Three businesses at that location also lost electrical power, Entergy Texas spokeswoman Renee Powers said.
Both said services were scheduled to be restored early Tuesday evening.
Neither ZuHone nor Powers said businesses or residences at the intersection of Second Street and Sherman Street lost service.
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Reader Comments
CherokeeToo wrote on Oct 1, 2008 2:25 PM:
" Amen friend gopher2! and if anything above 15' is abnormal/irregular why doesn't 15'8" qualify as abnormal/irregular? "
MoCofire wrote on Oct 1, 2008 3:24 PM:
" 14'6" is the Texas legal height limit. It is not hard or uncommon to get a permit to allow for a load that's taller. Any height permitted load will be told what roads can be travelled. Unless the truckers were dilberately on the wrong or unpermitted road, they are not at fault.
Maybe the state should check which roads they allow permitted loads. "
Maybe the state should check which roads they allow permitted loads. "
gopher2 wrote on Oct 1, 2008 8:46 AM: