Wind turbine blade falls off transport trailer, causes traffic chaos

A wind turbine blade has fallen off the back of a truck trailer in the US, closing portions of a busy highway in both directions and causing traffic chaos, highlighting for all to see the difficulties in transporting the mammoth components that are needed to build even a single wind turbine.

Local reports and footage from the Maryland Department of Transportation showed the massive wind turbine blade splayed across the grassy median strip of the Interstate 70 in Washington County, Maryland.

According to several media outlets, local authorities said that the blade detached from the transport vehicle at around 5am local time, with one person reportedly taken by ambulance to a local medical centre with non-life-threatening injuries.

It is unclear how the blade came loose from the trailer, nor exactly how the rear section of the trailer became disconnected from the truck proper.

The incident serves to demonstrate the difficult logistics necessary to transport wind turbine components.

Earlier this year, in the country town of Ararat in Victoria, a 70-metre-long wind turbine blade was transported through a residential area causing disruptions to municipal services and damage to council assets – including street signs and a tree.

Similarly, a section of wind turbine tower being transported to the Wambo wind farm in Queensland’s Western Downs in May become wedged under a bridge west of Brisbane after the oversized cargo proved too big to pass through.

Update: A logistics expert has pointed out that the blade may not have fallen off, as described by local traffic authorities, but may have been caused by a error in the steering of the rear trailer, causing the turbine to splay across the highway. They said it could be an operator or equipment fault.

It is not common, but it has happened before, and in Australia – once in Queensland when a long concrete beam suffered a similar problem, and in Victoria in 2020 when a turbine blade suffered a similar problem while being transported near Warrnambool.