The M5 motorway looks eerily empty in new photos showing the removal of a tipper truck bed, which became wedged under a gantry on Thursday (March 2).
Witnesses described hearing a sound "like an explosion" when the lorry bucket struck the overhead structure and became stuck underneath it. No one is believed to have been injured during the incident, which happened at about 8.20am, but the motorway was closed to allow structural engineers to attend the scene.
The collision happened between junctions 17 and 18 and the subsequent road closure caused disruption across the South West. It was expected to last into tomorrow (Monday, March 6), but the M5 has in fact reopened this morning (Sunday) - earlier than expected.
READ NEXT: Woman arrested after serious bridge crash on M4
Photographs shared with Bristol Live show the region's largest road looking eerily empty and quiet shortly before it reopened. Several vans, lorries and at least one aerial appliance can be seen parked on both sides of the carriageway, in the process of removing the tipper bed and replacing the gantry.
The pictures demonstrate the scale of the recovery operation needed to remove the truck, after its baffling mishap. A witness, who preferred not to be named, spotted the aftermath while he was out walking his dog in a neighbouring field. He said he felt something had "gone drastically wrong" to allow the vehicle to end up in the position it did, but that he was glad no one was injured.
According to the traffic monitoring website Inrix, the M5 motorway reopened between junctions 17 and 18 just before 6am this morning (Sunday, March 5). Drivers can use both carriageways as normal.
READ NEXT:
- Bristol’s empty floating restaurant has been sold almost a year on
- Refuse lorry quarantined after Cotswolds resident puts asbestos in bin
- Dad who lost his limbs when he was electrocuted hugs his little girls for the first time after double hand transplant
- Why the M5 in Bristol was closed all day on Thursday
- Heavy snow threat sees Met Office issue Level 2 cold weather alert
