SINGAPORE: A 63-year-old man was arrested on Monday (Dec 5) after a crane on the heavy vehicle he was driving hit the ceiling of the Central Expressway (CTE) tunnel.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the crane on the vehicle had not been stowed properly.
The accident took place along Upper Cross Street on the slip road into the CTE tunnel in the direction of Seletar Expressway (SLE), and caused the entrance to be closed.
Police said they were alerted to the incident at 1.07pm. Investigations into the accident are ongoing.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) alerted drivers to the incident on Twitter at about 1.30pm.
Accident in CTE Tunnel (towards SLE) at Upper Cross Street Entrance. Upper Cross Street Entrance closed
— LTATrafficNews (@LTAtrafficnews) December 5, 2016
In a Facebook post at about 4.50pm, police urged motorists to use alternative routes to the CTE.
As of 5.35pm, the Upper Cross Street entrance to the CTE is still closed.
At least 20 cases have been reported of overhead road structures being hit by “over-height” vehicles since 2013, according to figures from LTA.
In June this year, the roof of a linkway in Bukit Batok West collapsed after it was hit by a crane on a lorry. In July, a linkway at Bukit Batok Street 52 was damaged after a similar accident.
From 2017, all lorries with cranes must be fitted with an audio warning system to reduce the risk of collision with overhead road structures. Existing lorries with cranes have until Sep 30, 2017 to comply with the new requirement.
In announcing the requirement, LTA said many of the incidents could have been prevented had drivers stowed the cranes before setting off.
