Heather Ainsley
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Speculation and awe grew throughout the community on the morning of Thursday, Aug. 4, as an enormous tanker made its way painstakingly around the courthouse circle. Members of the small community gathered throughout the morning around the circle to look on as a big rig pulling a massive cylinder inched its way around the narrow roundabout, causing major traffic delays and confusion.
The Monticello Police Department (MPD) Chief Fred Mosley says that the department got the alert about the giant transport at just 7:15 that same morning, and that he and his deputies immediately took to the streets to assist with traffic management.
“We got notified at 7:15 that the transport would be moving
at 8:15,” stated Mosley, “We assisted with traffic until after 12.” The tanker took around four grueling hours to make it around the courthouse, and the closed roads were cause for unanimous frustration in the community.
“We had trouble getting the kids to school on time,” says local mother, Ashley Cowen. “We ended up having to go through the Holly Hills neighborhood with about a hundred other people, because the truck had caused 90 to be blocked off completely at 7:41 a.m.”
The unexpected transport caused additional chaos for the small town by means of last-minute detours for regular morning traffic during one of the busiest times of the day. As a convenient pathway from Florida to Georgia, Monticello ordinarily sees its fair share of traffic that passes through along U.S Route 19, often heading to or from the nearby interstate. Many of these normal transports come in the form of logging trucks, semis and shipping trucks carrying various goods to their destinations. While these vehicles are able to pass through their ordinary route with relative comfort, due to the massive tanker transport that came through Thursday morning, these vehicles were forced to take detours down small neighborhood streets that were not as spacious as the main roads.
In a detour that routed traffic through York Street, a semi that was passing through was unable to effectively navigate the narrow streets and subsequently hit a power pole, pulling it and the attached power line down in the accident. This resulted in a lengthy power outage for a large portion of residents, as well as an interruption in internet and cell service that some residents say lasted for over 9 hours.
Despite the chaos, many of the residents made the most of the ordeal, gathering around the courthouse at local restaurants and coffee shops to watch the slow-moving progress of the tanker, which was estimated to be well over 160 feet long. The tanker itself is believed to be an LP gas tank, which may hold anywhere from 10,600 gallons to 15,200 gallons of LP gas, which is “liquified petroleum gas.” This term can refer to any combustible gas that exists in gas form at normal temperatures and pressures. This particular LP tanker was said to be empty at the time of its passage through town.
The transport was carried out by Atlas Heavy Transport, a company out of Texas, which specializes in heavy transportation, as well as lift and rigging needs. This particular transport had come quite a long way; it traveled for 14 hours to Mariana, Fla., from Texas, and was said to be making its way through Monticello heading to an area north of Jasper, Ga.
One of the pilot vehicles for the semi hauling the tanker quickly gained much popularity with the locals, as it featured a little chihuahua who was just pleased to be along for the ride! Quickly earning minor celebrity status during the four long hours that the tanker tried to clear the courthouse circle, this little pup's presence was thoroughly enjoyed by the onlooking citizens of this cumbersome conveyance.
Several hours after its appearance in Monticello, the tanker continued along the next step of its journey, and life here in our small town slowly returned to normal.