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Stuck: The citizens of Portland in the state of Oregon in the US Northwest received an abrupt reminder that wind turbine components are now among the largest items regularly transported by road. A tunnel connecting two of the busiest highways in the city was partially blocked for three days in late August when an 80-ton Vestas turbine nacelle spilled off a trailer headed for Hopkins Ridge Wind Project in Washington State.

A failed pin on the trailer reportedly made the $600,000 turbine lean to one side before falling onto the roadway inside the low overhead two lane tunnel. Working in extremely confined quarters, workers from Emmert International gingerly lifted the turbine before fabricating a frame under it in order to get it on the move again.

The size of the turbine was not an issue, says Emmert, which has moved generators four or five times that size for thermal-powered plants. But working within the narrow chute of the tunnel without damaging a turbine nacelle not designed to lie on its side was. "It was like moving an open carton of eggs," says CEO Terry Emmert.