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Dropped 200-ton marine engine shuts road, shipyard

Dropped 200-ton marine engine shuts road, shipyard

A 200-ton ship engine being transported to a San Diego Navy shipyard fell off a trailer Thursday, destroying several parked cars, damaging a water main, and prompting the facility to temporarily cease operations.

   The engine, being transported on a tractor-trailer to the General Dynamics NASSCO shipbuilding yard, slid off the trailer early Thursday morning while slowly moving along Harbor Drive. The engine fell with enough force to break the road surface and create a crater, landed atop one car and hit two others.

   It also broke a 16-inch cast iron water main, causing the NASSCO yard to cancel the first labor shift of the day affecting about 3,000 of the yard’s 6,000 employees. The road was closed for several hours but limited access was quickly restored.