# What was that Truck Carrying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 18, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544 "2012-06-18T17:22:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/1 "2012-06-18T17:22:42Z")
Twice in the last few weeks I’ve seen a truck carrying a long cylinder with fins and I’m wondering if anyone knows what it is? Details: Cylinder about maybe 4’ in diameter and maybe 30’ or 40’ long 2 “fins”, each one gradually starts at the ends of the cylinder and rises to about maybe 6’ extension at the highest Fins did not appear to have high point at the same spot, like they were offset Fins are separated by about 90 degrees No third fin - it’s unbalanced as far as I could tell The cylinder reminded me of a drive shaft I saw on a tv show about building large ships, with a series of holes/bolts around the end for attaching to something Truck was on 405 northbound in Seattle area ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/2 "2012-06-18T17:26:46Z")
Part of a carnival ride? ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/3 "2012-06-18T17:29:38Z")
Looked more industrial and solid than carnival ride components, I was thinking maybe dam/submarine/ship component, but that was just an impression. ---
**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/4 "2012-06-18T17:33:41Z")
I’d think some sort of heat exchanger, probably for a power plant, or a condenser (kind of the same thing) for a refinery, distillation plant or some such. On the other hand I’ve seen towers for various purposes (communications mostly) which have “fins” for added structural rigidity. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/5 "2012-06-18T17:35:09Z")
It’s a SWAG but I suggest that it’s either - A section of the base for a wind generator or A section (or whole) part of a rural water pressure tower. The fact that you saw this more than once suggests wind generation. It’s not unusual in the Midwest to see oversized carriers transporting wind blades and sections of wind generators. Maybe that activity is going on near your location too. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/6 "2012-06-18T17:37:04Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > It’s a SWAG but I suggest that it’s either - > > A section of the base for a wind generator > > or > > A section (or whole) part of a rural water pressure tower. > The fact that you saw this more than once suggests wind generation. It’s not unusual in the Midwest to see oversized carriers transporting wind blades and sections of wind generators. Maybe that activity is going on near your location too. That’s my answer too. I’ve seen a few in my neck of the woods. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/7 "2012-06-18T17:49:20Z")
These posts gave me some googling ideas, haven’t found it, but this image is similar, it’s just missing the fins (and I’m not sure if the cylinder was hollow or not): [pipe with bolts](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=large+industrial+water+pipe+with+fins&start=162&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1920&bih=955&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=i9kRtpzyvkm51M:&imgrefurl=http://www.dipity.com/tickr/Flickr_water_thames/&docid=_gtl5Bxd1UpT-M&imgurl=http://static.flickr.com/3086/2703990619_c61d13ab53.jpg&w=500&h=343&ei=3WjfT5vVCM382gWTs7HQCw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=831&vpy=371&dur=1067&hovh=186&hovw=271&tx=165&ty=100&sig=112496347526981703377&page=4&tbnh=150&tbnw=200&ndsp=56&ved=1t:429,r:14,s:162,i:315) ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/8 "2012-06-18T18:02:42Z")
Adding further evidence to the wind turbine concept: many GE turbine parts are built in Brazil and shipped to Seattle to be taken I-90 eastward even all the way to the Dakotas. I-90 is a very not urban trip with mostly straight directions and few tricky interchanges. it is a bit problematic that you see them on 405, but were they south of I-90 and perhaps coming from Tacoma? What color were the pipes? Steel or painted? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/9 "2012-06-18T18:03:13Z")
[Meillerwagen](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=meillerwagen&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=885&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=YTuD80Zzk842dM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ecomodelismo.com/MDA_ver.php%3Fref%3DWESP-35085&docid=hn7UQL2QqI1GIM&imgurl=http://www.ecomodelismo.com/ECO_imgArt/WESP/WESP-35085.jpg&w=300&h=225&ei=5GzfT6e9Does8QSLsqz9Cg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=999&vpy=165&dur=481&hovh=180&hovw=240&tx=112&ty=94&sig=109657799768690168395&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:86)? ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/10 "2012-06-18T18:07:09Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > [Meillerwagen](http://www.google.com/imgres?q=meillerwagen&hl=en&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=885&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=YTuD80Zzk842dM:&imgrefurl=http://www.ecomodelismo.com/MDA_ver.php%3Fref%3DWESP-35085&docid=hn7UQL2QqI1GIM&imgurl=http://www.ecomodelismo.com/ECO_imgArt/WESP/WESP-35085.jpg&w=300&h=225&ei=5GzfT6e9Does8QSLsqz9Cg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=999&vpy=165&dur=481&hovh=180&hovw=240&tx=112&ty=94&sig=109657799768690168395&page=1&tbnh=149&tbnw=199&start=0&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0,i:86)? Transporting V-2’s on the 405, ho boy are we about to attack Canada? 😃 **CAPT** ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/11 "2012-06-18T18:13:01Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Adding further evidence to the wind turbine concept: many GE turbine parts are built in Brazil and shipped to Seattle to be taken I-90 eastward even all the way to the Dakotas. I-90 is a very not urban trip with mostly straight directions and few tricky interchanges. it is a bit problematic that you see them on 405, but were they south of I-90 and perhaps coming from Tacoma? They could have still come in at Seattle. If the trucks were too long, too tall, or too heavy for either of the bridge routes, they could just go around the south end of Lake Washington. Or maybe the surface streets between the port and I-5 just make it easier to go through Tukwila. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/12 "2012-06-18T18:14:47Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Transporting V-2’s on the 405, ho boy are we about to attack Canada? 😃 Yeah, by WWII reenactors. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/13 "2012-06-18T19:20:18Z")
I doubt they were tower sections fo wind towers. Those are cylindrical with no obstructions or ‘fins’. [http://www.liftra.com/assets/images/db\_images/LT532-stacking-system-for-wind-turbine-tower-sections.jpg](http://www.liftra.com/assets/images/db_images/LT532-stacking-system-for-wind-turbine-tower-sections.jpg) That said, the fins do sound like some sort of stabilizing device for a tower. Odd that they don’t terminate at the same point. Re-reading, do you mean they start out flush with the end and then rise up to roughly the midpoint of the tube, reaching their maximum height of about 6’ at that point? That would rule out the stablizing guess as that would make them less stable. I don’t have a good guess. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/14 "2012-06-18T19:23:06Z")
> [@Disheavel](#): > > Adding further evidence to the wind turbine concept: many GE turbine parts are built in Brazil and shipped to Seattle to be taken I-90 eastward even all the way to the Dakotas. I-90 is a very not urban trip with mostly straight directions and few tricky interchanges. it is a bit problematic that you see them on 405, but were they south of I-90 and perhaps coming from Tacoma? > > What color were the pipes? Steel or painted? I was south of I-90 and it was heading north in the direction of I-90. As for the color - it almost seemed like the whole thing had some sort of tight fighting covering with no visible seems, but maybe not - either way, light grey ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/15 "2012-06-18T19:27:19Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Re-reading, do you mean they start out flush with the end and then rise up to roughly the midpoint of the tube, reaching their maximum height of about 6’ at that point? That would rule out the stablizing guess as that would make them less stable. Yes, that is what it looked like, a fin gradually developing as you move from one end towards the middle and then gradually back down again. It seems odd, so I wonder if I am misinterpreting something, but I saw it twice now, so I think that’s what I saw. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/16 "2012-06-18T19:59:04Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Transporting V-2’s on the 405, ho boy are we about to attack Canada? 😃 > > **CAPT** > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Yeah, by WWII reenactors. No, further back. It’s all about that damned pig that ate our All American Potatoes 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/17 "2012-06-18T20:25:10Z")
Joke all you want, but I think there are Pig War reenactors. ---
**Author:** ![Shosy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@Shosy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shosy)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/18 "2012-06-18T20:45:41Z")
> [@Capt\_Kirk](#): > > Transporting V-2’s on the 405, ho boy are we about to attack Canada? 😃 > > **CAPT** They have massed over 90% of their population on the US border just waiting to attack! ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/19 "2012-06-18T20:59:50Z")
Look out the Canadian Navy is at the ready [http://www.motifake.com/3296](http://www.motifake.com/3296) :eek: **CAPT** ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544/20 "2012-06-18T21:49:06Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Yes, that is what it looked like, a fin gradually developing as you move from one end towards the middle and then gradually back down again. It seems odd, so I wonder if I am misinterpreting something, but I saw it twice now, so I think that’s what I saw. The fins kind of confuse me, but new traffic lights in Washington State (at least in some areas) are being built on a single huge steel tube running diagonally across the road. [You can see one in this Street View photo running across the top of Highway 9](https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Clearview,+WA&hl=en&ll=47.804912,-122.14328&spn=0.000583,0.000905&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.793449,59.326172&oq=clearview+wa&t=h&hnear=Clearview,+Snohomish,+Washington&z=20&layer=c&cbll=47.804829,-122.143268&panoid=p7YnQn5_YjSGj3xeE2ADQg&cbp=12,269.69,,0,-2). It was delivered in huge sections on the back of a truck, like you’re describing, and is about the same size. The only problem is there’s no “fins”. Maybe the “fins” are attachment points for traffic lights? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-truck-carrying/625544.md?page=2)