One of Britain’s main arterial roads was closed Monday morning after an articulated lorry went very nearly over the edge, sending demolished a road barrier crashing onto the busy road below.
The M1, which was the United Kingdom’s first motorway and is a major north-south arterial road from London, was closed Monday morning after a truck-trailer crossing a junction flyover with the A14 road crashed, taking out the bridge-side barrier and apparently coming to within inches of falling onto the road below.
Images published by local police show not just the extent to which the heavy goods vehicle was left hanging, its cargo clearly visible bulging against the trailer’s curtain sides, but also the other damage to the bridge. The side railings, torn from the ground had fallen down to the motorway below.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
Later in the day, the National Highways office gave an update on progress of the recovery, showing a large crane had successfully lifted the truth away from the road’s edge and that teams were removing the remains of the severed crash barriers.