Driver charged over Harbour Bridge spill

Crawling traffic, squalling rain and a red-faced truck driver.

Traffic came to a halt across Sydney on Friday afternoon after the rear door of a truck's trailer became unlatched, spilling 20 tonnes of landfill along three kilometres of the Harbour Bridge.

Police have charged the 61-year-old man over the spill and issued several defect notices for the truck.

He is set to face Downing Centre Local Court on February 26.

The lane-wide spill caused significant traffic delays, hindering the arrival of bobcats and tractors that took three hours to clean up the mess.

All lanes have reopened but the northbound speed limit has been reduced to 40km/h.

Traffic remained heavy on the bridge and in the Harbour Tunnel into Friday night, with motorists queued back 3km on either side, a Transport Management Centre spokeswoman said.

Aerial footage taken shortly after the incident shows a large dump truck and empty trailer from a NSW-based excavating contractor parked in Milsons Point, at the northern end of the bridge.