Bruce Highway closed by horror crash, detours opened for small vehicles

A section of the Bruce Highway south of Townsville will remain closed for hours following a horror truck rollover, after a crane was called in to remove the vehicle.

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A section of the Bruce Highway south of Townsville will remain closed for hours following a horror truck rollover, after a crane was called in to remove the vehicle.

A man in his 40s was rushed to hospital in a critical but stable condition after the B-double truck he was driving rolled at the Mackenzie Creek bridge at Cromarty at about 10pm on Monday night.

It’s understood the truck crashed into the bridge’s guardrail, before rolling into the dried-out creek bed below.

The 49-year-old man suffered injuries to his chest and limbs in the crash and was assessed by critical care paramedics.

The truck had been carrying a liquid substance and the bridge had to be closed as a result.

A Queensland Police spokeswoman on Tuesday afternoon confirmed the highway would be expected to be closed until at least 4pm.

The section of highway where the crash occurred.

“The (liquid carried by the) truck had to be emptied into containers, and the containers had to be moved with a crane,” they said.

“The crane then had to get the truck out of the creek bed.”

A Townsville University Hospital spokeswoman confirmed the man remained in a serious but stable condition at 2.50pm on Tuesday.

“A second patient in stable condition was also transported, they seem to have been hit by some of the debris from the truck’s initial crash,” a Queensland Ambulance Services spokeswoman said earlier.

Diversions through Woodstock-Giru road are in place for smaller vehicles, but are not suitable for heavy vehicles and any vehicles towing objects should take caution.

The bridge will be examined by the Department of Transport and Main Roads prior to reopening.

The District Duty Officer on scene of the incident.

The cause of the crash is unknown, however road users have previously identified the Bruce Highway’s narrow bridges as unsafe.

In one previous incident, a vehicle towing a caravan was forced to move onto the shoulder of in order to allow other vehicles to pass safely.

There are as many as seven such bridges between Palm Creek and Alligator Creek.

At the time of the caravan incident, a spokesman for the Department of Transport and Main Roads said bridges along the Bruce Highway, however narrow, were safe.

“The widths of bridges along the highway varies depending on when they were built and the engineering standards at the time of construction,” a spokesman said.

“While there are some bridges on the Bruce Highway that would be considered narrow when compared to current bridge standards, they remain safe and appropriate for the many vehicle types using the highway.”

Originally published as Bruce Highway closed by horror crash, detours opened for small vehicles