80 Feet Down: Three Generations Tackle a New Hampshire Recovery
By George L. Nitti
When a box truck plunged approximately 80 feet into the Merrimack River alongside I-293 in Manchester, New Hampshire, Roland Blais of Blais Towing in nearby Bedford knew his 35-ton wrecker wouldn't be enough.
“I heard it coming in on the scanner,” Blais said.
Blais, whose company was one of roughly eight or nine towing operations on the rotation, called neighboring Precision Towing & Recovery for a 60-ton JERR-DAN rotator.
“I just got people to help me, and we help each other,” he said. “I called and they brought it out.”
Precision scene supervisor John Sylvia said Blais knew immediately what the recovery would require.
“He knew right away it's going to need a rotator, so he called me in to help,” Sylvia said.
Precision sent both the rotator and a 50-ton wrecker to the scene.
Planning the Recovery
Before the first outrigger was lowered, the crews had to determine whether the bridge could safely support the recovery.
Blais had worked in bridge construction before entering the towing industry, so he understood the importance of positioning the rotator over the bridge's main beams.
Engineers marked the exact location for the outriggers.
“They painted some lines on the ground, and they said, ‘Here, your outriggers need to go right here, right on the main beam,’” Sylvia said. “They can't go six inches more this way or that way.”
Blais understood the concern. “We didn't want to put too much weight on the bridge to crack something,” he said.
Once the rotator was positioned, Precision's crew prepared the spreader bars, endless loops, chains and other rigging. New Hampshire State Police shut down I-293, while Fish and Game divers, Bedford and Manchester firefighters, highway personnel and bridge engineers assisted with the operation.
Blais' son, Stephen, went down with the divers to help direct the underwater rigging.
“I stayed up top,” Blais said. “My son was down there telling them where to go down and hook up the chains.”
Battling the Current
The truck had landed in approximately 10 feet of water, making the river current the biggest unknown.
“The only thing that I was worried about was the current,” Blais said. “When I was picking up off the bottom, the current would take it under the bridge.”
There was no practical way to tie the truck off because of the bridge's width.
The crew used two spreader bars, 10-foot endless loops and eight-foot chains around the wheels, with additional chains and loops at the front where the vehicle was more heavily damaged.
“We did everything as low as possible, so when we got to the top, we'd have enough room to clear the guardrails,” Blais said.
The recovery also required careful attention to the working load limits of every component.
“When you're lifting 90 to 100 feet, because we have to lift that thing over the guardrail, anything can happen,” Sylvia said. “You have to pay attention to all your working load limits of all of your equipment.”
That included the spreader bars, endless loops, shackles and chains—not simply the rotator.
During the first lift, the truck began to move as it came off the river bottom.
“The first lift, it started to line itself, and the truck was going under the bridge,” Blais said. “I set it back down. I looked at it. I said, ‘No, we're just spinning.’”
Stephen, watching from below, had a different interpretation.
“He goes, ‘Well, it ain't going under the bridge, it's just lining itself up with the bridge.’”
On the second lift, they brought the rear of the truck out of the water first, allowing the water inside to drain before lifting the front.
“We got the back end out, all the water out, and then we lifted the front,” Blais said.
Before continuing upward, the underwater crew checked all four chains.
“They checked all the chains, all four chains, to make sure that they were secure, and we started our lift,” Sylvia said.
During the ascent, the left rear chain broke through the truck's box and shifted slightly. The crew stopped to inspect it and determined the rigging remained secure.
“We looked at it, we took a look, and we determined that everything was okay,” Sylvia said. “It was a chain, no problems.”
Over the Guardrail
Once the truck was clear of the water, the recovery became more predictable.
“We let the state do what they wanted to do on top, get rid of all the traffic and weight, so we could see what the bridge was going to do while we're lifting it,” Blais said.
The rotator continued to winch the truck upward.
“We had enough height. We cleared the guardrail by about two feet,” Blais said.
The truck was lowered onto the roadway, the driveshaft was removed and it was towed away without requiring a trailer.
“I knew we had it made,” Blais said. “Everything went smooth from there on. It came right up because there was no more weight. The water was gone.”
From the initial phone call until Blais returned to his shop, approximately seven hours had passed. The actual lift took about an hour, with roughly 45 minutes spent rigging the truck.
Blais credited everyone involved.
“I say thank you to all the people that helped us,” he said.
It also brought together three generations of the Blais family—Roland, Stephen and Nicholas—and two generations of the Sylvia family, John and his son CJ, working alongside the Precision crew.
For Sylvia, the cooperation between the two companies was central to the recovery. “We're like family,” he said of the Blais family. “I've learned a lot from Roland.”
For Blais, the lesson was simple.
“You can't do it alone,” he said. “You just gotta remember, you can't do it alone. There's always somebody out there to help if you got any questions.”
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