Skip to main content

Whale of a time

Motorists in the UK were left feeling decidedly ill due to a rather unusual load being transported along a busy dual carriageway. The drivers had the misfortune to be using the same stretch of road as a truck carrying the carcass of a dead whale.
May 16, 2014 Read time: 1 min
RSSMotorists in the UK were left feeling decidedly ill due to a rather unusual load being transported along a busy dual carriageway. The drivers had the misfortune to be using the same stretch of road as a truck carrying the carcass of a dead whale. The unfortunate creature had died after being stranded on a beach on the south coast of England and five days later was removed, to be taken to a landfill site for disposal. However the whale was rotting and as the truck was being driven, some of its decomposing innards dripped onto the roadway in its wake, leaving a highly unpleasant smell for any motorists following behind.

Related Content

  • Powerful reclaimer/stabiliser aids road upgrade
    March 15, 2012
    A US contractor is upgrading rural Pennsylvania roads with the aid of a powerful new reclaimer/stabiliser Much of the United States highway infrastructure continues to deteriorate due to lack of a comprehensive road bill and eroding investment in the nation’s roads. However, some of the country’s secondary and rural roads are being upgraded, and funding is coming from unlikely private sources. Energy companies with stakes in the Marcellus and Utica deep shale gas reserve development are working with local
  • Concerns over increased US road fatality rate in 2012
    November 25, 2013
    Data from the US Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that highway deaths increased to 33,561 in 2012, an increase of 1,082 over the figures for 2011.The official Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) data reveals that the majority of the increase in deaths, some 72%, occurred in the first quarter of 2012. Most of those involved were motorcyclists and pedestrians. This newly released data marks the first increase in road related fatalities in the US
  • Act FAST when it comes to bridge maintenance, argues Cliff Weston
    February 27, 2017
    Deck waterproofing remains critical to a bridge’s structural integrity for its design life, explains Cliff Weston, director of Stirling Lloyd To properly maintain deck waterproofing there must be a willingness to look at solutions based on whole-life costing rather than just short-term initial costs. There are lessons to be learned from examples of prematurely failed infrastructure due to a focus on initial short-term costs.
  • Grand achievement for Intermountain
    July 18, 2012
    A versatile solution has helped with a tricky project at the Grand Canyon in the US – Pierre Peltier When Intermountain Slurry Seal, a division of Granite Construction, submitted its bid in 2009 to repair roads and parking lots along the Grand Canyon’s North Rim, the company knew the job would come with challenges. The remote roads leading from Jacob’s Lake, Arizona, to the North Rim Lodge had deteriorated to a point that the Federal Highway Association’s (FHWA) Central Federal Lands (CFL) Highway Division