Trucks laden with 36-inch steel pipe have been arriving for days in a lot off the Lincolnton Road, leaving a slippery trail of mud on the road, state troopers caution. Despite the steadfast resistance from landowners and the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners, thousands of feet of pipe for the controversial Elba II natural gas pipeline are already being stacked in expectation of starting construction in the spring. The matter is expected to go to court soon, since neither Wilkes landowners or commissioners are willing to bow to a big oil company simply so it can avoid paying tariffs, they say. The company wants to begin actual construction by March or April of 2009.