I just skimmed through a video showing the erection of the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center (New York City) a few days ago - from horizontal on a flatbed truck, to a vertical position - assisted by cranes and workers.
A few questions:
The tree generally comes from somewhere in New England or New York state. Is it transported by the same flatbed truck the entire distance? What about height clearances on bridges and tunnels, and sharp curves? Can they put it on a barge and float it down the Hudson for part of its trip? What route do they take in NYC?
After the holidays are over and the tree is “undecorated”, it becomes mulch for NYC park paths and/or lumber for homeless shelters. Is that “destruction” done on-site? Or does the tree have to be moved to a sawmill (or whatever) to complete the job?
I would think transitioning it from flatbed to barge to flatbed would be costly, and risk damaging the tree. Probably quicker and cheaper to use one mode of transport. While longer than a typical trailer, they move massive wind turbine blades on trucks, so the tree should not present too many challenges. But, I am sure someone is responsible for mapping the route to ensure height tolerances are not exceeded.
I am guessing afterward the tree is undecorated and then unceremoniously cut into smaller pieces that can be easily transported to wherever for further decomposition.
Here is an obituary from the New York Times in 2010 of the guy who was responsible for a long time for picking the tree. It mentions one tree arriving by barge. This article says the 2004 tree arrived by barge. (Not sure if both articles are referring to the same tree.)
And this article says the 1997 was the first to arrive by barge. (It mentions that the 1996 tree hit a low sign at the George Washington Bridge when being driven to the city.)
Hauliers who regularly carry high/wide/long/heavy loads are well used to planning routes to avoid low bridges. The branches of a tree can be easily bent to make the load lower and no doubt the height would be checked before departure.
Whether by barge or plane or by truck - the tree still has to get into the center of NYC via pre-planned routes. I read that they try to do this final trip at night, so that streets can be closed where necessary.
This article has a picture of the 2015 tree on a truck. It’s really not that enormous. It’s certainly an oversize load, but it isn’t exactly a Saturn V being moved to the launchpad.
I read a few years ago that the Rockefeller Center tree gets sculpted into its final, triangular form by adding extra branches where needed. So in some cases it may not be that wide to begin width.