Part of overpass on I-95 in NE Philly collapses after tanker fire

[Alex]

The only way the NJTP would be toll-free from Southpoint to Exit 6 is if someone is paying for it...be it USDOT/FHWA, PennDOT/PA, etc. I don't see that happening

The Turnpike Authority isn't going to offer free rides because "free"  I-95 thru Philly is broken

I do think this scenario highlights that the NJTP between I-295 and Exit 6 really should be made a formal part of the Interstate Highway System and designated as such. An I-95E or I-895 (or other available even 3di) designation/shield would get the job done. That said, the Turnpike has not shown any interest in seeking the I-shield south of Exit 6 that I'm aware of.

The only even x95 that NJ hasn't considered using is 695. 895 was planned for Burlington-Bristol. NY's 695 is inconsequential and the next one south is Baltimore, so they could. But again, someone else would have to pay to add all those shields.

I-695 was considered for central New Jersey as the connector between the I-95 Somerset Freeway and I-287 to/from the north.

The proposal for Interstate 695 in New Jersey appeared on a number of General Drafting maps.

I-85 in Atlanta took 53 days (counting from the day the fire started?)

After seeing the time to rebuild in Atlanta quoted as 43 days in another source, I figured I should do some fact-checking.  It appears 53 days is not correct.

The NTSB report says 43 days, but does not give the actual date the bridge reopened:

NTSB:  Fire damage to bridge and subsequent collapse

Meanwhile, this USA Today article came out on May 15, 2017 (a Monday) on the occasion of the new bridge's first use by morning commuters:

Atlanta's I-85 bridge reopens for first morning commute

It is a little vague about when exactly the new bridge opened--it says "over the weekend," which presumably means either May 13 or May 14.  The fire was on March 30, which would mean it opened 44 or 45 days after (1 day remaining in March plus 30 days in April and 13 or 14 in May).

The fire, collapse, and reconstruction had its own thread on this forum (of course!).  CtrlAltDel made the first post noting I-85 had fully reopened, with a timestamp of 18:46:44 EDT on May 14.

Have this GDOT tweet embedded on the I-85 page on Interstate-Guide from May 13, 2017:

https://twitter.com/GADeptofTrans/status/863527307864150018

[MASTERNC]

The livestream of the site is up and running if you want to watch it

https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/Pages/AlertDetails.aspx

[davewiecking]

The livestream of the site is up and running if you want to watch it

https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/Pages/AlertDetails.aspx

Thanks for posting that. From what I can see, the retaining walls suffered significant damage, and would probably not support a Bailey bridge. In order to get the 3 lanes each way of highway open quickly, I can see just burying the middle part of the walls for phase 1.

[Dough4872]

https://6abc.com/i-95-collapse-philadelphia-collapsed-philly-interstate-95/13385819/ Demolition is complete, construction of the temporary roadway beginning and could be finished and open to traffic by July.

[sprjus4]

A month to fill & pave six lanes, on an expedited schedule?

[MASTERNC]

A month to fill & pave six lanes, on an expedited schedule?

July is two weeks away. Hoping it would be a week at most, but a July 1 deadline would be acceptable.

[davewiecking]

A month to fill & pave six lanes, on an expedited schedule?

July is two weeks away. Hoping it would be a week at most, but a July 1 deadline would be acceptable.

They originally said they hoped to have the old bridges removed by the end of NEXT WEEK so I'm not going to believe any other schedule predictions.

[Henry]

https://6abc.com/i-95-collapse-philadelphia-collapsed-philly-interstate-95/13385819/ Demolition is complete, construction of the temporary roadway beginning and could be finished and open to traffic by July.

Well, this is very optimistic of them. It would be great if the whole thing was reopened in time for the Fourth travel day.

[jeffandnicole]

For a group of people that recognizes the most minor of differences in signage lettering, traffic light manufacturers and has a great memory of historic road features, there's a noticeable ignorance towards actual highway construction, especially when it comes to emergency construction. 

I'm not sure how people think that every destroyed overpass is the same, and instantly compares previous timelines...but not previous actual incidents.  No one here seems to have even questioned the fact that a 30+ ton tractor trailer hit a bridge wall and basically all but blew up, but yet believes that the bridge should instantly be able to withstand new construction.  Or that steel beams aren't sitting around on the ready to be installed by ABC technics, further misunderstanding what ABC actually consists of and the actual timeline length of such projects.

If you were to take a shovel of dirt and put it in a hole, it would appear to fill it up pretty quick.  If you were to take a shovel of dirt and put it in a hole, and pound it down so hard water couldn't leak thru it, you'll be getting a lot more shovels of dirt.  That's basically what they're doing here, so traffic doesn't sink down loose dirt.  So 2 weeks or so - by July - for those that forget that there's not 30 days left in June - is a formidable task, but doable if they keep those truckloads of dirt rolling in. 

No doubt there will still be comparisons to other incidents, but usually those other incidents only look at when the road reopened, not when ALL the construction was completed.  The punch-list items last much longer.  Months on even the most ordinary of projects.

[sprjus4]

^ That is a fair and very valid point. Even once traffic re-opens when that time comes around, it will likely be many months until the new permanent overpasses are complete, despite traffic moving in the area within a couple of weeks.

[MASTERNC]

From the local news, it appears the trucks started rolling in yesterday with the glass pellets.

Also, the detour required a detour this morning when a truck knocked down power lines on the road parallel to the collapse site.

[ixnay]

For a group of people that recognizes the most minor of differences in signage lettering, traffic light manufacturers and has a great memory of historic road features, there's a noticeable ignorance towards actual highway construction, especially when it comes to emergency construction. 

I'm not sure how people think that every destroyed overpass is the same, and instantly compares previous timelines...but not previous actual incidents.  No one here seems to have even questioned the fact that a 30+ ton tractor trailer hit a bridge wall and basically all but blew up, but yet believes that the bridge should instantly be able to withstand new construction.  Or that steel beams aren't sitting around on the ready to be installed by ABC technics, further misunderstanding what ABC actually consists of and the actual timeline length of such projects.

If you were to take a shovel of dirt and put it in a hole, it would appear to fill it up pretty quick.  If you were to take a shovel of dirt and put it in a hole, and pound it down so hard water couldn't leak thru it, you'll be getting a lot more shovels of dirt.  That's basically what they're doing here, so traffic doesn't sink down loose dirt.  So 2 weeks or so - by July - for those that forget that there's not 30 days left in June - is a formidable task, but doable if they keep those truckloads of dirt rolling in. 

No doubt there will still be comparisons to other incidents, but usually those other incidents only look at when the road reopened, not when ALL the construction was completed.  The punch-list items last much longer.  Months on even the most ordinary of projects.

IOW, one size doesn't fit all when it comes to collapsed bridges and the process of replacing them.  Yes, good point.

[MASTERNC]

Sounds like July 1 is indeed the target

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/i-95-in-philadelphia-to-reopen-within-two-weeks-says-pa-gov-josh-shapiro/3587857/

[akotchi]

Sounds like July 1 is indeed the target

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/i-95-in-philadelphia-to-reopen-within-two-weeks-says-pa-gov-josh-shapiro/3587857/

The caption of the photo in the article is not correct . . . the location is somewhere on the N.J. Turnpike, which does not go through Lawrence Twp.  Can tell by the style of the structure, variable speed limit sign, and small structure ID plaque on the bridge pier in the background.  I cannot read the milepost.

[jeffandnicole]

Sounds like July 1 is indeed the target

https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/i-95-in-philadelphia-to-reopen-within-two-weeks-says-pa-gov-josh-shapiro/3587857/

The caption of the photo in the article is not correct . . . the location is somewhere on the N.J. Turnpike, which does not go through Lawrence Twp.  Can tell by the style of the structure, variable speed limit sign, and small structure ID plaque on the bridge pier in the background.  I cannot read the milepost.

This may have changed. At this time, I'm only seeing videos of the press conference, and tweets of the incident.

[jeffandnicole]

After several days of seemingly slow progress, the filled-in overpass is quickly rising. 

https://www.penndot.pa.gov/RegionalOffices/district-6/Pages/AlertDetails.aspx

I'm guessing they need to build up upwards of around 25 feet of fill: 16 or so feet of underpass clearance, 7 feet for what would've been the height of the bridge beams, then a foot or so of bridge driving surface, each give or take a foot or two.  At present, it appears they're in the 15-20 foot range of that fill.  Most of that fill occurred within the past 36 hours or so.

The contractor hired is taking advantage of the placement of that camera, which numerous signage telling everyone who's constructing that temp roadway there.

[ne11931]

The contractor hired is taking advantage of the placement of that camera, which numerous signage telling everyone who's constructing that temp roadway there.

That's pretty blatant, and worse is the Penn DOT /FHWA? banner that is unreadable because it's blowing in the breeze. Anybody at DOT have the b*lls  to tell the contractor to take down some of their signs and put the DOT banner in a better spot?

[Rothman]

The contractor hired is taking advantage of the placement of that camera, which numerous signage telling everyone who's constructing that temp roadway there.

That's pretty blatant, and worse is the Penn DOT /FHWA? banner that is unreadable because it's blowing in the breeze. Anybody at DOT have the b*lls  to tell the contractor to take down some of their signs and put the DOT banner in a better spot?

Why?

[Alps]

I-695 was considered for central New Jersey as the connector between the I-95 Somerset Freeway and I-287 to/from the north.

True, it was considered in some plans, I forgot.

[davewiecking]

I missed seeing the beginning of the in-fill process, and the camera resolution isn't the greatest. Anybody know what the retaining walls are made of?

[vdeane]

Road Guy Rob did a nice video on the collapse and repairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ249N1aW_8

[catch22]

I missed seeing the beginning of the in-fill process, and the camera resolution isn't the greatest. Anybody know what the retaining walls are made of?

It looked to me like some sort of mesh fabric. How it's attached to the fill I'm not sure.  They would lay out each course as the fill was pumped in.

[jeffandnicole]

Road Guy Rob did a nice video on the collapse and repairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ249N1aW_8

I'll give him kudos for all the exhibits he made to show what will be done; quite impressive. Althoigh he got 3 things wrong; 2 relatively minor, and 1 that would get him crucified.

1) He stated the SB 95 bridge was destroyed, and NB 95 was severely damaged and had to be removed. It was the opposite.

2) He seemed to blame the collapse on the rebar within the concrete. Actually, he was a bit unclear of this as he did show an image of bridge beams at one point, which was the actual structural reason for the collapse. He kinda got the general point across, that metal gave way destroying the bridge; he just did a lousy job explaining it.

3) At the very end he said he's going for a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich. No no no no no no no. Philly people would add him to the glass/dirt mixture they're filling the hole with hearing that. In and near the city, it's just a Cheesesteak. For most outsiders, Philly Cheesesteak is acceptable.  But a Philly Cheesesteak Sandwich...showing whatever slop he was eating?  He'd lose any credibility if that was broadcasted widely in the Philly area.

[02 Park Ave]

And people wonder why other states do not use "Philadelphia" as as control city?

[davewiecking]

I missed seeing the beginning of the in-fill process, and the camera resolution isn't the greatest. Anybody know what the retaining walls are made of?

It looked to me like some sort of mesh fabric. How it's attached to the fill I'm not sure.  They would lay out each course as the fill was pumped in.

I thought it might be gabion walls, but I wasn't sure how much lateral strength that would have. Guess it depends on how the 2 sides are tied together. I guess the fact that the crushed glass is fairly lightweight helps, but it will still have 6 lanes of traffic on it.