Driver arrested after crane hits CTE tunnel ceiling
As of 5.10pm, the entrance to the CTE tunnel remains closed. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY
SINGAPORE — Police arrested a 63-year-old driver on Monday (Dec 5) after a crane on his vehicle hit the ceiling of the Central Expressway (CTE) tunnel. The incident caused the expressway entrance on Upper Cross Street, heading towards the SLE, to be closed for several hours in the afternoon.
TODAY understands that the vehicle is owned by ATC Equipments, which specialises in aerial devices such as forklifts and scissor lifts. The company did not respond to TODAY’s queries.
The entrance to the tunnel at the slip road of Upper Cross Street was closed for five hours, resulting in a massive traffic jam as motorists sought detours.
The police were alerted to the accident at around 1pm. There were no casualties, and no other vehicles were damaged. The tunnel entrance re-opened at about 6pm.
New regulations announced last Wednesday require all lorries with cranes to be fitted with audio warning systems that will alert the drivers through a buzzer if their cranes have not been properly stowed.
All lorries with cranes mounted from January will have to include this system, while existing lorries with cranes have until Sept 30 next year to comply with this requirement, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said.
Since 2013, there have been 20 cases of overhead road structures, such as walkway shelters and overhead bridges, being hit by vehicles which are over the general height limit of 4.5m.
