Heavy equipment hauler loses load on Route 232 corner

RUMFORD — A Woolwich man was injured Tuesday morning while rounding a sharp curve on Route 232 after a flatbed trailer he was hauling behind a dump truck, flipped over, spilling an excavator into the woods, police said.

According to Patrolman Scott Mills, Kenneth Vining, 53, complained of back and neck pain after the 7:14 a.m. accident. He was taken by Med-Care Ambulance to Rumford Hospital.

Mills said Tuesday afternoon that Vining was driving west toward Route 2 in a 1988 Ford dump truck owned by MCW Trucking Inc. of Pownal. Vining told Mills that as he was rounding the sharp corner at the intersection with South Rumford Road, he glanced in the side mirror and saw the trailer tires lift off the road.

The trailer then flipped completely over, causing the large Caterpillar excavator to roll into the woods, Mills said. The dump truck, however, remained upright.

Mills said the owner of the excavator, Thomas Cushman of Pownal, righted the excavator and used it to flip the trailer over, during which Route 232 was briefly closed to traffic by Rumford firefighters, who also responded.

Cushman estimated damage to the excavator at $15,000.

The dump truck wasn't damaged, but its trailer hitch assembly was, Mills said.

Additionally, Mills said he has yet to get an estimate from the Maine Department of Transportation about damage to the road caused by the heavy equipment.

No citations are pending.

tkarkos@sunjournal.com