Now that's a wheelie! Highway closes after truck trailer gets stuck on road sign

Last updated at 6:39 PM on 10th August 2011

As motor tricks go, this one was pretty spectacular.

Although, it is hard to imagine the drivers clogged in traffic behind this abandoned 16-wheeler in the baking heat will have seen it that way.

Incredible pictures have emerged of a huge truck trailer balancing precariously on a highway sign in Houston at almost a 90 degree angle.

Scroll down for video

How did it get there? A truck trailer is suspended mid-air after somehow getting stuck on a road sign

Perched ironically beside a road sign warning truck drivers from veering into the outside lane, the vehicle somehow remains aloft, like a dog on its hind legs.

While providing the opportunity for incredible pictures, drivers stuck behind the cargo trailer must have tired of the seen pretty quickly.

The crash caused widespread road closures in the area as workers battled through the day and night to clear the vehicle and remove the damaged sign.

Clean up: Workers begin the process of removing the huge truck from the road

Battered: The road sign was smashed up and had to be removed before the road reopened

Authorities said the sign had to be taken down completely before the road could reopen for fear it might collapse at any moment.

The 16-wheeler was travelling northbound at about 5.30pm on Tuesday when the truck's hydraulic arm extended, causing the trailer suddenly to rise up, police said.

The empty bed rose to almost a 90 degree angle before smashing into the road sign.

It is not known what caused the accident, but it is thought a mechanical failure could have been responsible -or the driver may have hit a button by mistake.

Stuck: Traffic stretched back for miles and way into the night because of the crash

The shaken-up driver is said only to have noticed that the trailer had risen when it hit the sign.

All north and southbound lanes of the North Freeway near Airline were closed throughout Tuesday evening, with traffic clogged for miles behind the scene of the bizarre accident.

By 8pm that evening, traffic on both sides of the freeway had been diverted while a wrecker removed the sign overnight.

Somehow, the crash caused no injuries.

Watch the video

Video | News | Weather | Sports

Tue Aug 09 15:54:23 PDT 2011

I-45 at Airline reopens after bizarre big rig wreck

A stretch of Interstate 45 in Houston has reopened after being closed for hours following a bizarre wreck that left part of a gravel truck teetering against an overhead sign. view full article