A tractor-trailer bearing an asphalt silo was too tall to clear the wires holding traffic signals at Pennsylvania Avenue and Market when it arrived at about 10:45 a.m.

The Sycamore Specialized Carriers truck and its load were 15-feet, 7-inches tall and 115 feet long.

All permits were in place and the company was following a travel plan provided by the states along its path from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Franklin, N.H. “Because of the height, you don’t go in a straight line,” driver Dan Frey said. That plan drove the load right through Warren.

However, the plan did not mention the 15-foot clearance at Pennsylvania Avenue and Market Street nor some wires hanging at about that height at intersections to the north.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Steerman Kevin Whitt of Sycamore Specialized Carriers uses a telescoping pole to lift an overhead wire that was snagged on the asphalt silo Sycamore was hauling through Warren on Thursday.

City of Warren Police and Department of Public Works responded to the scene. They said the city received no advance notice of the approach of the oversize load.

“We had to close down Pennsylvania and Market so the utilities and DPW could move the lines and the truck could maneuver through the intersection,” City of Warren Police Capt. Jeff Dougherty said. “The main intersection in town needed to be shut down for an hour-and-a-half.”

The truck, on its way from Fort Wayne, Ind., to Franklin, N.H., waited on Pennsylvania Avenue near CVS while police stopped traffic and a DPW crew lifted the overhead wires.

The truck pulled straight through the intersection, hit a slight snag on another overhead wire, then backed onto the end of Market Street, before heading north out of town.

Kevin Whitt, who drives the pilot car and is Frey’s steerman, used a telescoping pole to lift the wire off of the load.

The load would have probably had to take a different route in two years.

Whitt said the crew encountered two roundabouts on Wednesday that were not of an appropriate size to allow them to pass.

Frey spoke with Dougherty as he approached Second Avenue, saying he understood that the city doesn’t want the truck stuck at an intersection any more than the company does. He said the oversize load does encounter problems, but not very many.

According to PennDOT, the contract specifies that the company is to contact municipalities in advance of the vehicle’s arrival.

City officials notified utility companies of the load and Breezeline and Verizon responded, sending bucket trucks to lift wires out of the way at Second and Fourth avenues respectively. New overhead traffic signals on Market Street north of Pennsylvania provide 17 feet of clearance, according to DPW.

The truck was out of town at about 12:15 p.m.

Whitt said the team left Fort Wayne on Monday and expects to arrive at their destination sometime next week.