Workers clean up cases of wine and other items Thursday after a tractor-trailer tipped onto its side after sideswiping a Maine Turnpike Authority pickup truck near the Academy Road overpass in Litchfield. A state employee suffered a leg injury in the accident. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal Buy this Photo

LITCHFIELD — Workers from the Maine Turnpike Authority escaped serious injury Thursday morning when a tractor-trailer that was half-loaded with wine drifted into the breakdown lane and sideswiped the workers’ unoccupied pickup truck, according to police.

Workers, who had been picking up trash, were alerted to the truck coming their way by the noise it made when it drifted into the breakdown lane across a rumble strip, and they were able to get into the ditch safely, according to Shannon Moss, public information officer for the state Department of Public Safety.

One worker, Michael Robinson, 43, of Litchfield was hit in the leg by flying debris. He was treated at a hospital for an injury officials said was not serious.

The accident occurred at about 9:45 a.m. at mile marker 92, in the northbound lanes, in Litchfield.

A Maine Turnpike Authority crew was finished picking up trash for the day. The driver and a passenger had exited the pickup truck to retrieve construction signs, with the truck parked in the breakdown lane with amber lights flashing, according to the Maine State Police.

A tractor-trailer driven by William Rodney Harrington, 59, of Hartford, Connecticut, was northbound and drifted into the breakdown lane, sideswiping the pickup truck and continuing into the ditch, where it rolled onto its side, according to state police.

The trailer spilled its load, strewing cases of bottled wine A photograph provided by police showed the tractor-trailer tipped onto its side along the highway, with wine bottles strewn across a ditch and the banking.

The cab of the truck had a “Oneclick Transportation” logo on wind deflector.

Harrington was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.

A tractor-trailer truck carrying wine tipped onto its side Thursday after sideswiping a Maine Turnpike Authority pickup truck on the turnpike in Litchfield. Submitted photo

The north lane of Interstate 95 in Litchfield was shut down much of Thursday due to the crash. Shortly after 3 p.m., Moss said the right-side northbound lane was expected to remain closed for another few hours.

Harrington was issued a court summons on a charge of failure to move over and for an alleged logbook violation.