RANGELEY – A large truck hauling a container of rubbish on a trailer rolled over on Route 4 on Monday afternoon spilling some of its contents over the road. Police and others directed traffic around the mess for nearly four hours.

Robert Higgins, 48, of Mexico, the driver of the Archie’s Inc. truck out of Mexico, had picked up the container of construction debris at Saddleback Ski Area and was driving down Dallas Hill Road when the accident occurred about 3:15 p.m., Rangeley Police Chief Phil Weymouth said Tuesday.

The truck driver put on the brakes on the last hill on the steep road but the truck continued on and the driver swung it to the right to make the corner onto Route 4, Weymouth said.

The load shifted and the truck rolled over, he said.

“Thank goodness, no one was coming from the left; thank goodness, no one was coming from the right,” Weymouth said. “No one was hurt.”

Weymouth said the truck’s brakes appeared to have overheated when it was coming down the hill. The truck had been inspected by Maine State Police on Sept. 21 and was in good shape, he said.

The driver didn’t realize there were so many asphalt shingles, estimated at 8 to 9 tons, in the container, the chief said.

Shingles, paint cans, windows and lumber were among the items that blocked part of the highway, Weymouth said.

At one point traffic was shut down for 20 to 30 minutes, Weymouth said.

A wrecker and a local contractor from M & H Construction came up with an excavator to roll the rig over and to clean up the debris, he said. They had to unload the container so they could right the truck and trailer.

A representative of Archie’s brought another rig to the site, and the new truck was loaded with the debris, he said.

Weymouth said he was assisted at the scene by three Rangeley fire police – firefighters who are trained to direct traffic and come under Weymouth’s supervision. Rangeley firefighters and a NorthStar Emergency Medical Services ambulance were also called to the scene, he said.

The 1991 Mack tractor sustained about $10,000 damage and the container, trailer and winches between $5,000 and $6,000 damage, Weymouth estimated.

A representative of Archie’s Inc. was unavailable for comment Tuesday.