EDMONTON - Montana has given the green light for Imperial to transport 207 Korean-built modules across the state en route to the $8-billion Kearl oilsands project now under construction north of Fort McMurray.

But the oil giant will not be allowed to delay traffic along scenic U.S. Highway 12 for more than 10 minutes, and must build 54 new turnouts along the route.

The modules are more than 60 metres long and 10 metres high, and the first shipload arrived in October at the Port of Vancouver, Wash., across from Portland on the Columbia River. The units were loaded onto barges and towed up the Columbia and Snake rivers to Lewiston, Idaho.

The units have been stored there awaiting a resolution of the highway issue, with residents fighting to prevent the transport.

An Imperial spokesman said earlier that the modules destined for Kearl represent 20 per cent of the off-site prefabrication work, with the rest taking place mostly in the Edmonton area.

All firms now use as much prefabrication as possible to reduce the amount of work that must be done on the remote sites. Prefab construction is less expensive, and quality is often superior.

At Kearl, the first phases of the mine and separation units — with a production capacity of about 110,000 barrels per day of bitumen by late 2012 — are on target.

The total trip to northern Alberta covers more than 2,100 kilometres by river barge and road.

Meanwhile, ConocoPhillips has already received permission to move several larger loads from Korea to a refinery expansion in Billings, Mont., but its first shipment through Idaho caused long traffic delays on Highway 12, and the state will not allow any more until the firm revises its travel plans.

dcooper@edmontonjournal.com