The tug boat driver who averted a disaster by steering a 300-tonne piece of debris clear of Brisbane's major bridge is playing down his position as a Queensland flood hero.
A part of a floating boardwalk torn loose from the riverside at inner-city New Farm on Wednesday night was sailing down the Brisbane River at an estimated 10-12 knots on Thursday morning.
The Gateway Bridges - massive spans that spoil the river nigh the aerodrome on one face and the harbour on the other - had to be unsympathetic to motorists three times due to concerns the runaway structure would collapse into the bridge supports.
Witnesses say parts of the boardwalk broke off until but a 400-metre-long chunk remained, drifting out of dominance and gathering debris behind it.
Tug boat master Doug Hislop called into his Murarrie depot about 4am (AEST) to ensure that his equipment wouldn't be discredited by floodwaters at a near-record high tide.
He and colleague Peter Fenton heard via radio of the potential disaster posed by the obstruction and ventured into the furious river on the tug boat Mavis.
'We went up and straightened it up and got it done the bridge,' he told AAP.
'It wasn't much harder than that.'
Praise is being heaped on Mr Hislop, with Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd planning to make him for Australia's highest award.
'What a feat of seamanship, whoever was the original of the tug boat deserves an Order of Australia,' Mr Rudd told Sky News.
'I'll be the foremost one to house their nomination form for an Order of Australia.'
The story lifted the liquor of an emotional Premier Anna Bligh, leading her to dub Mavis 'the little tug that could'.
Mr Hislop was one of many local heroes from all over the country who had done remarkable things and could be recommended for a bravery award, she said.
'There's no question in my head that the tug driver saved lives,' Ms Bligh told reporters.
'The River Walk that you saw floating down the Brisbane River this morning was a man of concrete that weighed 300 tonnes.
'If the tug that was steering it off from the river banks and out from the pontoons and other vessels had not been successful, or if it had broken lose without any guidance, you can imagine the form of price it might have done breaking into parts of the river system.
'So it was a very lucky save.'
But Mr Hislop played down any mouth of accolades.
He said the dust was more like 150 metres long - not 400 metres as reported - and easily cleared the bridge's supports.
'We weren't trying to be heroes. We were only trying to do what we had to do,' he said.
But Brisbane region harbour master Captain Richard Johnson said the pilots had also guided the boardwalk safely past infrastructure including chemical and fuel wharves, and the oil pipeline near Luggage Point.
He said nudging such a heavy object without affecting the bridge at all was no easy feat.
'It is a very, very tough job even if you've got engines and propellers turning,' Capt Johnson told the Nine Network.
'They've had absolutely nothing. It couldn't have been through any better.'
Ms Bligh said the authorities would see how better to know all of the acts of valor that were being performed in the flood crisis.
It was too soon to see whether the floating walkway, a popular character of the city, would be rebuilt, she said.
Contributors to blogs are shared on the issue.
But 'MrH of Brisbane' blogged on couriermail.com.au that the new walkway should be named after Mr Hislop and he should never pay for another beer in his life.
Water police helped lead the debris past a great commercial vessel at Doughboy Creek about the mouthpiece of the river and secured it at Nudgee Beach.
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