A police investigation was initiated after a truck carrying a wind turbine tower was trapped under a major highway overpass, resulting in traffic delays and long detours.
The turbine tower was boarded on a portion of the Warrego Expressway in southeast Queensland at 1.40 a.m. Friday.
After 12 hours, the turbines were removed, the westbound lane of the highway is expected to reopen on Sunday afternoon and part of the overpass will be reopened within a week.
The initial investigation revealed that the driver of the oversized truck failed to follow the escort vehicle to the ramp and continued on the highway.
Queensland’s Transport Secretary Brent Mickelberg said the truck had been licensed to leave the highway through the roundabout.
“The trip was accompanied, but the truck did not,” he said on Saturday.
‘The Queensland Police Department and my department will investigate. We will take action if appropriate before this investigation.
“We need to understand what’s going on here and make sure it doesn’t happen in the future.”
Workers inspect wind turbines trapped under highway overpass
Crews work hard to remove wind turbines that cause massive traffic delays
Mr Mickelberg added that the turbines caused significant damage to the overpasses and roads.
Remove the turbine with extreme caution in small increments to enable engineers to evaluate the bridge structure.
It was removed from the site by Qube Haulage, whose vehicles were loaded with turbines.
Ipswich Mayor Teresa Harding initially worried that the overpass could be closed for up to a year.
“I’m very grateful (as far as the reopening timeline is concerned), she said.
“I just ask people to be a little patient next week and these detours are in place.”
She said the detour commuter trip increased by 30 minutes.
The Warrego highway connects Brisbane to parts of Queensland in the west of the capital, such as Toowoomba.
The driver of the truck was a man in his 50s and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.
