JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two men being called Good Samaritans pulled a truck driver out of his cab Monday night as the tractor-trailer sank below the waters of Sisters Creek.

It took heavy equipment on Tuesday afternoon to lift what was left of the big rig from the water.

According to the crash report, driver James Gray of Green Cove Springs tried to avoid traffic stopped for a four-foot snake crossing the Heckscher Drive Bridge just before 7 p.m.

"Our driver, in an effort to avoid any collision with that car or hurt anybody else, in effect put his life at risk and basically slammed on the brakes, tried to avoid the car and went over the rail," said David Guidi with Enhanced Trucking.

Two divers working for a contractor of the Florida Department of Transportation witnessed the accident and ran to help.

Channel 4 was told Gray was hospitalized overnight at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center and released at midday Tuesday.

Because the rig is submerged in the water, the Coast Guard placed some restrictions on boating in the area and pushed to get the wreckage removed as quickly as possible.

A crane on a barge was brought in just after noon on Tuesday, and both the cab and the trailer were out of the water by late afternoon.

Officials said the trucking company or its insurance company would have to pay for the removal of the big rig.

DOT officials said that damage to the bridge was minor and remained open to traffic. FDOT divers were in the creek Tuesday morning but found no structural damage.