The sinkhole which has closed the Bruce Highway.
The Mains Roads Department says the highway has now re-opened and there are no delays.
Earlier, it was reported a sinkhole that opened up south of Bowen has forced the closure of the Bruce Highway.
The sinkhole was intially reported to be 2m wide but authorities this morning said it was now about 3.5m wide and 1.5m deep.
Main Roads engineers are assessing the damage where a large section of the northbound lane collapsed about 20km south of Bowen.
Earlier, it was reported that workmen were trying to repair the damage but the highway will not reopen in both directions until between 10am and noon.
Traffic was being diverted to the Peak Downs Highway through the Bowen Development Road.
Truck driver Jeff Ian told ABC news the area wa poorly lit and someone could have been killed.
"I had only just watched on Sunday night on a commercial TV station a show about sink holes, and to actually see one only three to four days later is quite astounding to be quite honest," he said.
A large sink hole has forced the closure of the Bruce H'way in north Qld. Pic Olivia Reed. @abcnews @ABCTropical pic.twitter.com/h45vypxXpG"I have never seen anything quite like it. I have seen some good pot holes but never one that big."
- Shelley Lloyd (@shelleymlloyd) April 30, 2014
The Queensland Police Service Facebook page labelled the hole a "sinkhole", but photographs published on social media sparked debate about whether it was indeed a sinkhole or just a large pothole.
Either way, the large hole caused the closure of both lanes of the highway from Bowen to Proserpine about 8.30pm.
Authorities were hoping to reopen the major arterial this morning.
A Queensland police spokeswoman said the hole was reported about 7.15pm, with police initially closing just one northbound lane.
But all north and southbound lanes were closed for safety reasons by the Department of Main Roads about 8.30pm, with the highway closed from the Barrier Reef Roadhouse at Bowen in the north to just north of Proserpine.
Police diverted traffic through Collinsville last night, while truckies to the north of the closure were taking the inland highway around the sinkhole.
The 3.5m-wide hole was reported to be growing last night, with engineers and geologists expected to inspect the site today.
Bowen Palms Caravan Park manager Bev Hartz said police told her that the sinkhole had opened up near the bridge over Kangaroo Creek, about 20km south of Bowen.
"We did get a lot of flooding from Cyclone Ita so maybe it's something to do with that," she said.
"After Ita, the highway was closed in a few places and the rail line was wiped out at some stage."
Other local residents were in the dark about the disruption.
Truckies told the Townsville Bulletin that the sinkhole opened near the bridge with traffic initially allowed through until a decision was made to fully close the highway.
They described it, in true truckie fashion, as just a "big bloody hole".
Sinkholes, which are relatively rare, generally occur when water eats away at the earth or bedrock, such as limestone, below the surface causing the ground to collapse.
Potholes are far more common along the Bruce Highway.
Comment: The number of sinkhole reports across the globe has increased quite dramatically over the last 5 years or so, with the total for this year already approaching the tally for 2013, as can be seen below.