Rollover Dumps Asphalt Off the Road

Here’s another one from Bill’s Towing in Bridgeport, Ohio, who’ve been featured in this space before. Over the years the company founder and owner, William “Bill” Coulson, has added employees and equipment including his sons Chad and Ty. In May 2013, Bill’s responded to a rolled-over dump truck.“We were called out by the Flushing Volunteer Fire Department for a tandem-axle dump truck loaded with hot asphalt that rolled over at the intersection of State Route 331 and 149,” Chad said.He responded with their 50-ton Jerr-Dan HDR 1000 rotator, and heavy operator Heath Arigoni in their 25-ton Jerr-Dan HDL 500/280 integrated wrecker. Bill and Ty responded in their service pickup loaded with the landing bags and air cushion recovery equipment. Chad was first on scene.“The dump truck took the curve to fast laying the truck over onto its driver side. The load of hot mix went over the embankment into a farmer’s field. Luckily no one was hurt too bad,” Chad said.After assessing the situation, Bill’s team went to work. First the drive shaft was removed and the front and rear axles were chained to the frame. Heath placed the 25-ton in the front of the dump with one cable going through a snatch block off the stiff leg and back up to the front axle. The other cable was attached to the front of the dump truck as a safety measure to keep the truck from rolling back.Chad placed the 50-ton rotator at the rear of the dump unit with one cable through a snatch block to the rear axle, and the other was attached to the topside with a recovery chain running under the truck to the rear axle.Ty was at the air cushion control bank and Bill supervised the recovery.“Once we were ready to set the unit up, the landing bags were deployed and aired up by Ty,” Chad said. “The unit was upright in no time and the fire department commented on what a professional job we did not causing any more damage and a smooth upright of the truck.”Once back on its wheels, the dump was placed on the underlift of the 25-ton and towed back to Bill’s storage lot. Then they cleaned the roadway with their Bobcat.“We went back out the next day and cleaned the asphalt up that went over the hill into the farmer’s field,” Chad said. “We scooped it up and hauled it away. The farmer was happy with the cleanup and we had another successful recovery on the books.”