Monster Truck

We occasionally visit Querétaro to shop the big box stores (Costco, Sam's Club) or to see medical specialists. A narrow highway takes us east from San Miguel de Allende. Lately the trip has become arduous. Construction crews have torn up the road, widening it in anticipation of the crush of visitors expected to arrive later this year for the Mexican Independence bicentennial celebration. Along the way traffic gets shunted onto rutted, narrow dirt detours barely capable of handling passenger cars much less busses or large trucks.

As I headed out of San Miguel one morning, I saw a huge truck and trailer parked beside the highway. I thought, "No way is this thing going to make it through the construction zone." Four hours later, on my way back from Querétaro, I came upon the selfsame truck, now some ten miles farther down the highway. I joined a line of traffic that had been stopped to wait for the passing of the gigantic rig.

The massive load required two big Kenworth diesel tractors to get up the grades in our mountainous part of the world. The traction provided by sixteen drive wheels had to be increased by the weight of large concrete blocks chained to the rear of each tractor. A draw bar on the front of the lead tractor left open the option of attaching a third tractor if needed.

I just love this stuff.

I couldn't tell the load was, but clearly it was exceedingly heavy. Wider than a single highway lane, it required a trailer 48-wheel trailer—the biggest I've ever seen. The load was secured to the trailer with many chains and cables. To my eye, they didn't appear substantial enough to survive a serious tilt.

One thing for sure: no mishap would be caused by excessive speed. The rig rumbled down the road at two miles per hour. Crew members hopped on and off at will, checking clearances on corners, eying iffy sections of pavement, and directing traffic around the thing.

What was it? Where did it come from? Where was it going?

Whatever it was, it passed unidentified through the states of Guanajuato and Querétaro, demonstrating if nothing else that Mexican industry is capable of building and moving some really big machines.

Comments

[sparks]

A large power transformer. Just a guess

http://www.browniemovesit.com/fpl.shtml

[John]

Yeah--that's what I think, too.