By Kelly Roy King and Nate Bertasso
kelly@newsroom.byu.edu
A semi-truck carrying 10,000 gallons of liquid helium overturned Tuesday, June 27, near the Deer Creek Dam, said Christopher Kramer, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman.
The crashed forced the closure of State Road 189 until early this morning, Kramer said.
The tanker was leaking its nitrogen gas from two gashes near the rear of the truck, Ed Vidmar of the Bureau of Reclamation said.
The truck's nitrogen served to cool an inner container of helium, which would have exploded if allowed to warm and expand, Kramer said.
The tanker truck is like a 'thermos bottle with an outer layer and an inner layer with nitrogen in between to control temperature,' Kramer said.
The truck driver, James Carter, Rock Springs, Wyo., only suffered 'minor scrapes and bruises,' Kramer said.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation, but witnesses said the truck was traveling too fast, failed to negotiate the turn and crashed into the rock wall.
Orem resident Cameron Whatcott was traveling three cars behind the truck when it crashed.
Whatcott said the driver was fortunate to wear his seat belt.
Whatcott said he approached the truck, broke out the window and helped free the driver from the truck.
As he was leaving the scene of the accident, Whatcott said a considerable amount of 'steam' was escaping the truck.
The semi-truck sustained substantial damage, and for hours Utah Highway Patrol troopers and Wasatch County officials feared it would explode.
The owner of the carrier, Jack B. Kelley Inc. of Delta, Millard County, and Air Liquide America Corporation of Orem assisted in releasing the gas, ending the threat of explosion.
The Bureau of Reclamation, which oversees Deer Creek Dam, responded quickly to the accident and helped at the scene.
Vidmar said accidents occur in the vicinity of the dam almost every week.
The Utah Highway Patrol routed northbound traffic around the scene via the Alpine Loop that runs through Cascade Springs, Kramer said.
Southbound checkpoints were set up at Midway and Wallsburg to inform travelers of the road closure.