Dump truck, asphalt, fall into Penobscot Bay

ISLESBORO – A dump truck carrying 20 tons of asphalt fell off a boat into Penobscot Bay on Monday while its driver was trying to drive onto an island loading ramp.

The accident blocked ferry service with the mainland for more than 19 hours before the vehicle was hoisted to the surface just before noon Tuesday.

The accident occurred about 4 p.m. Monday – and the slack tide caused the loading ramp at the Islesboro dock to be pitched at a steep angle.

When the driver gunned the engine to get up the ramp, the resulting torque forced the bow of the boat downward and pushed the boat away from the ramp.

The driver, who was not injured, was able to get out of the truck before it sank in 27 feet of water.

“It was sitting underwater on its wheels, just like he parked it there,” said Leroy “Butch” Sawtell, acting manager of the Maine State Ferry Service.

Prock Marine of Rockport had a 100-ton crane working on a nearby island, so it steamed over Monday. Divers were called in to affix cables around the 66,000-pound truck and the crane hoisted it to the surface.

Just as the crane operator was about to lower the cargo to the boat that brought it, a cable snapped and the truck’s dump body with the 20 tons of asphalt broke loose and sank once again.

“If that cable hadn’t broke, everything would have been hunky-dory,” Sawtell said.

The recovery was suspended about 9:30 p.m. Monday. The project resumed Tuesday morning when a Prock Marine dredging barge with a clamshell scoop arrived.

Sawtell said submersion in cold water caused the asphalt to solidify so the dredge had no problem raising the material to the surface. Damage to the ferry terminal was minimal. Because it had solidified, the asphalt was not deemed a threat to the environment by Department of Environmental Protection, he said.

“It was a mass of solid material that we had to get out of there before we could get our boat in,” Sawtell said.

The ferry connects Islesboro and its 700 residents, many of them summertime dwellers. with Lincolnville Beach in Waldo County.

“I have gotten zero calls from the Islesboro people,” Sawtell said Tuesday. “We sure had a nice crowd around last night, though. There was a lot of ooing and aahing.”

Diffin said islanders are accustomed to weather or mechanically related shut-downs of the ferry and endure them with good humor. The spectacle of Monday’s accident piqued their curiosity, however.

“We would prefer to call it ‘entertainment’ instead of a ‘crisis,”‘ said Diffin. “There was a lot of laughing and joking. We wondered why someone didn’t have the presence of mind to put a big eye hook in that pile of asphalt and use it as a mooring.”

She said the town’s ambulance had been waiting for the ferry when the accident occurred Monday, but the patient was taken to the mainland by a licensed passenger service and was met at the dock by Camden Ambulance.

Diffin said the truck was being brought to Islesboro by a private ferry owned by Island Transport Service. The service obtained permission to use the state ferry terminal to offload and had the appropriate insurance. Marriners Paving Inc. of Rockport is resurfacing the island’s roads, and the tri-axel truck was sub-contracted by Marriners.

Attempts to obtain the identity of the driver from Marriners were unsuccessful Tuesday. The project manager, Michael Marriner, was unavailable.

Diffin said the community was glad the truck driver escaped without injury and commended the ferry service for cleaning up the mess and getting the boats back on schedule.

She said she did not know the driver’s identity, but “I did hear it said that he won’t be working any more island jobs.”

The accident forced cancellation of two ferry trips to the island on Monday and four on Tuesday. People were able to get off the island by using private vessels. Those needing to take their vehicles ashore had to wait until the resumption of the ferry service.

Needless to say, the accident and salvage operation were a major topic of discussion at Durkee’s General Store all morning Tuesday. The delay interrupted the island’s daily routine because many residents make the 20-minute commute to the mainland on a regular basis.

“It keeps people here and we’ve been pretty busy. You know how it is, small town, big doings,” said owner Richard Donovan. “Nobody is too upset. If it was down for two or three days it would be quite an impact.”