By Eoin English
THE southbound lane of Cork’s Jack Lynch Tunnel has been closed indefinitely after an accident caused up to €500,000 worth of damage.Thousands of motorists were caught in massive tailbacks yesterday following the accident. A crane on the back of a truck struck the roof of the tunnel’s southbound bore at 2pm.

After the initial collision, the truck continued into the tunnel. Its raised crane tore into lighting, monitoring, ventilation and emergency equipment.

However, no major structural damage was caused, the tunnel’s managing engineer Dan O’Neill said.

Engineers were assessing the extensive damage last night.

The lane - used by traffic from Dublin and Waterford - carries up to 30,000 vehicles every day.

Motorists travelling behind the truck had to swerve to avoid falling debris. However, there were no injuries.

The entire tunnel was closed immediately, causing severe traffic chaos, as an emergency plan was launched.

A contra-flow system was implemented in the northbound lane within half an hour. Traffic at rush-hour was heavy but flowing.

Motorists were warned last night that the damaged lane will remain closed for the weekend. It could be Monday before it reopens. The contra-flow system will remain in place until then.

Gardaí at Anglesea Street are investigating. They interviewed the truck driver yesterday and are treating the incident as a road traffic accident.