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

[J N Winkler]

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.

[jeffandnicole]

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

This reminds me a lot of the tanker fire accident on I-65 @ I-20/59 back in 2002 (this interchange would have a similar accident 2 years later on a different bridge). This new bridge opened 53 days after the accident.

Weird coincidence.

It sets a solid expectation at least. Not to anyone outside this forum of course.

Everyone is saying it will take "months"  to replace the bridge along I-95. Yet other emergency bridge replacements only took a couple months. Something doesn't seem right here in how this will take so long.

Mostly because we're looking at how long it took after the fact, and forgetting the news stories the days after the incident.

From April 1, 2017:

https://www.cnn.com/2017/03/31/us/atlanta-interstate-85-fire-collapse/index.html

A man has been arrested on suspicion of intentionally setting a huge fire that brought down part of an elevated interstate highway in Atlanta, a collapse that is expected to complicate traffic for months in one of the nation's most congested cities.

https://www.businessinsider.com/atlanta-bridge-fire-collapse-arrest-2017-3

Georgia Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry said 350 feet of highway will need to be replaced in both directions on I-85, which carries about 400,000 cars a day through the city and is one of the South's most important north-south routes. He said repairs will take months but declined to be more specific.

Regarding the I-65 collapse in 2002:

https://www.gadsdentimes.com/story/news/2002/01/06/explosion-fire-kills-one-closes-i-65-indefinitely/32361972007/

It could take months to repair the overpass...

Anyone noticing the common theme here?

The moment we have a big disaster like this, officials immediately say "months to repair", then when it's completed in weeks, everyone's happy.  It certainly sounds better than "It'll take weeks to repair" then people start complaining it's taking too long when it's drawn out to a few months.

[Tonytone]

Well Hello everyone Tonytone here to report in, I have been inactive for a while, but I think Im gonna get back to the forum.

Some updates.....

I live in Philly now (Past 4 years) I also move into a home in wissonoming which just happens to be down the street from the crash site.

So far traffic in the area has been impacted, I just drove by the area an hour ago and they have police stationed at almost every light starting at Tacony & Comly, all the way up to Cottman, They are either blocking the Street, or parked by the Traffic boxes to control the lights.

I was not able to check out the crash site due to the blockages, I'll try to get a look from the state road side next later this week.

I will also get the drone up in the area in the next weeks to capture some Photos, and Video from the crash site.

I will try to keep the group updated on conditions since I most likely am the closest to the site, and it will also be affecting my travels.


EDIT LINKS TO FOOTAGE

Link from Twitter @Mark Fusetti Driving over 95 SB during the fire that morning Notice the huge sag in the Bridge portion

https://twitter.com/MarkFusetti/status/1667842327077875714?s=20

FOOTAGE OF TRUCK CRASHING

VIDEO 1
https://twitter.com/MarkFusetti/status/1668406917813739520?s=20

VIDEO 2
https://twitter.com/KellyRuleTV/status/1668659201868984320?s=20

Tony V out

[odditude]

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

This reminds me a lot of the tanker fire accident on I-65 @ I-20/59 back in 2002 (this interchange would have a similar accident 2 years later on a different bridge). This new bridge opened 53 days after the accident.

Weird coincidence.

It sets a solid expectation at least. Not to anyone outside this forum of course.

Everyone is saying it will take "months"  to replace the bridge along I-95. Yet other emergency bridge replacements only took a couple months. Something doesn't seem right here in how this will take so long.

erm, "a couple of months" qualifies as "months", no?

for that matter, any time longer than a month counts as months. 53 days? that's roughly 1.75 months. it may not match standard usage, but it's technically correct - and being technically correct can keep you from getting raked over the coals (either by your boss, the media, the public, or all of the above).

[Rothman]

Well Hello everyone Tonytone here to report in, I have been inactive for a while, but I think Im gonna get back to the forum.

Some updates.....

I live in Philly now (Past 4 years) I also move into a home in wissonoming which just happens to be down the street from the crash site.

So far traffic in the area has been impacted, I just drove by the area an hour ago and they have police stationed at almost every light starting at Tacony & Comly, all the way up to Cottman, They are either blocking the Street, or parked by the Traffic boxes to control the lights.

I was not able to check out the crash site due to the blockages, I'll try to get a look from the state road side next later this week.

I will also get the drone up in the area in the next weeks to capture some Photos, and Video from the crash site.

I will try to keep the group updated on conditions since I most likely am the closest to the site, and it will also be affecting my travels.


EDIT LINKS TO FOOTAGE

Link from Twitter @Mark Fusetti Driving over 95 SB during the fire that morning Notice the huge sag in the Bridge portion

https://twitter.com/MarkFusetti/status/1667842327077875714?s=20

FOOTAGE OF TRUCK CRASHING

VIDEO 1
https://twitter.com/MarkFusetti/status/1668406917813739520?s=20

VIDEO 2
https://twitter.com/KellyRuleTV/status/1668659201868984320?s=20

Tony V out

"I am in control here, in the White House." -- Alexander Haig

[jeffandnicole]

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

This reminds me a lot of the tanker fire accident on I-65 @ I-20/59 back in 2002 (this interchange would have a similar accident 2 years later on a different bridge). This new bridge opened 53 days after the accident.

Weird coincidence.

It sets a solid expectation at least. Not to anyone outside this forum of course.

Everyone is saying it will take "months"  to replace the bridge along I-95. Yet other emergency bridge replacements only took a couple months. Something doesn't seem right here in how this will take so long.

erm, "a couple of months" qualifies as "months", no?

for that matter, any time longer than a month counts as months. 53 days? that's roughly 1.75 months. it may not match standard usage, but it's technically correct - and being technically correct can keep you from getting raked over the coals (either by your boss, the media, the public, or all of the above).

You're a weather forecaster, aren't you?

[MikieTimT]

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

This reminds me a lot of the tanker fire accident on I-65 @ I-20/59 back in 2002 (this interchange would have a similar accident 2 years later on a different bridge). This new bridge opened 53 days after the accident.

Weird coincidence.

It sets a solid expectation at least. Not to anyone outside this forum of course.

Everyone is saying it will take "months"  to replace the bridge along I-95. Yet other emergency bridge replacements only took a couple months. Something doesn't seem right here in how this will take so long.

erm, "a couple of months" qualifies as "months", no?

for that matter, any time longer than a month counts as months. 53 days? that's roughly 1.75 months. it may not match standard usage, but it's technically correct - and being technically correct can keep you from getting raked over the coals (either by your boss, the media, the public, or all of the above).

Not to mention, on a project of national significance, using superlative wording gets federal resources unlocked in the quest to cut the typical red tape it normally takes for repairs on such structures to reduce the pain everyone will surely be feeling that has to use it.

[MASTERNC]

Sounds like they are going to fill over the ramp and create a temporary roadway in the center, while the bridges are being reconstructed around it.  Assume the footprint will be widened if they are going to have six lanes in the center.  There will be a 24/7 live camera feed during construction.

Demolition should be done tomorrow, with backfill starting thereafter (with police escorts accompanying the dirt from its origin in Delaware County).

[Tonytone]

Sounds like they are going to fill over the ramp and create a temporary roadway in the center, while the bridges are being reconstructed around it.  Assume the footprint will be widened if they are going to have six lanes in the center.  There will be a 24/7 live camera feed during construction.

Demolition should be done tomorrow, with backfill starting thereafter (with police escorts accompanying the dirt from its origin in Delaware County).

Im interested to see that.

So after they lay the new bridge beams down, and repour the concrete and etc they will dig the dirt out, and it will be good as new?

Also reports today are saying parts of the SB wall have to be torn town as well due to fire damage.

[jeffandnicole]

Sounds like they are going to fill over the ramp and create a temporary roadway in the center, while the bridges are being reconstructed around it.  Assume the footprint will be widened if they are going to have six lanes in the center.  There will be a 24/7 live camera feed during construction.

Demolition should be done tomorrow, with backfill starting thereafter (with police escorts accompanying the dirt from its origin in Delaware County).

I saw someone post this somewhere as a Pie in the Sky dream idea. But it does make sense.

Getting the highway reopened this way can be done probably in the matter of days, if not a few weeks (ha, take that Atlanta).. The off-ramp can be closed for a bit of time at a much more minor inconvenience to the general public. There's some unfortunate timing for residents and businesses in that area, as the exit just before this, Exit 27 for Bridge Street, was just permanently closed in April, leaving one less option to get around the longer closure of the Cottman Ave ramp.

Since the highway here was widened to 4 lanes and 2 full shoulders in each direction, they have some unusually decent room to work with in the Philly area on 95. I think they can get three temporary lanes in, while reconstructing the overpass for three permanent lanes within the existing footprint, without much of a problem. And the narrowing of traffic from 4 lanes to 3 occurs so much in this area, the congestion shouldn't be terribly bad.

[MASTERNC]

Some more details

The reconstruction of the collapsed portion of 95 will be completed "as quickly as possible,"  Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro said Wednesday.

Shapiro avoided giving a definitive timeline of the reconstruction of the collapsed portion of I-95 in Northeast Philadelphia Wednesday, repeating instead several times that the job would be completed "as quickly as possible."

"We realize this is a challenge for motorists,"  Shapiro said. "That's why these guys are working their tails off to get it done as quickly as possible."

Once demolition of the damaged portion of the highway is completed, Shapiro said, crews will backfill the demolished area with Pennsylvania-made recycled glass aggregate. The Pennsylvania State Police will escort trucks carrying the fill from Delaware County to Philadelphia in order to ensure the material makes it to the site "as quickly as possible."

PennDot has hired a Philadelphia firm, Buckley & Co., to rebuild the roadway. That company was similarly hired in 1996 to rebuild a section of 95 that was badly damaged in a tire fire in the city's Port Richmond section.

Once the backfill is added to the roadway, crews will pave the surface level of 95, and three center lanes in each direction will be open to motorists. The area outside those lanes will have new lanes built on it PennDot Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll said.

"Once those are completed, we will transition the traffic to the completed new structure, excavate the material that constitutes the fill, use that in another project, and complete the reconstruction of the center part of the bridge,"  Carroll said.

After the center portion is completed, officials will reopen the Cottman Ave. exit ramp, and work will be completed. Authorities have said the work is expected to take months to complete.

[kphoger]

The Pennsylvania State Police will escort trucks carrying the fill from Delaware County to Philadelphia in order to ensure the material makes it to the site "as quickly as possible."

*whew*  This way, the dump trucks can get all the way up to 90 mph and blow through any red lights.  This should shave a good 18 minutes off the total project time!

[sprjus4]

Since the highway here was widened to 4 lanes and 2 full shoulders in each direction, they have some unusually decent room to work with in the Philly area on 95. I think they can get three temporary lanes in, while reconstructing the overpass for three permanent lanes within the existing footprint, without much of a problem. And the narrowing of traffic from 4 lanes to 3 occurs so much in this area, the congestion shouldn't be terribly bad.

Why would they construct the overpass for 3 permanent lanes each way when it was 4 lanes and full shoulders each way prior to the collapse?

The reconstructed bridges would have 4 lanes in each direction, plus full shoulders.

[Tonytone]

Since the highway here was widened to 4 lanes and 2 full shoulders in each direction, they have some unusually decent room to work with in the Philly area on 95. I think they can get three temporary lanes in, while reconstructing the overpass for three permanent lanes within the existing footprint, without much of a problem. And the narrowing of traffic from 4 lanes to 3 occurs so much in this area, the congestion shouldn't be terribly bad.

Why would they construct the overpass for 3 permanent lanes each way when it was 4 lanes and full shoulders each way prior to the collapse?

The reconstructed bridges would have 4 lanes in each direction, plus full shoulders.

Im also confused on what they are saying, it sounds like a PA special with a bridge with no shoulders.

[jeffandnicole]

Since the highway here was widened to 4 lanes and 2 full shoulders in each direction, they have some unusually decent room to work with in the Philly area on 95. I think they can get three temporary lanes in, while reconstructing the overpass for three permanent lanes within the existing footprint, without much of a problem. And the narrowing of traffic from 4 lanes to 3 occurs so much in this area, the congestion shouldn't be terribly bad.

Why would they construct the overpass for 3 permanent lanes each way when it was 4 lanes and full shoulders each way prior to the collapse?

The reconstructed bridges would have 4 lanes in each direction, plus full shoulders.

Yes, I see what you mean, the three "permanent" lanes aren't exactly permanent...they're just in a temporary configuration on the permanent structure.

That said...Fill in ramp area with enough dirt to allow for 3 temporary lanes.

Next to those lanes, rebuild overpass 3 lanes wide.

When that opens, they can shift traffic to the new overpass. Then they can remove the temporary roadway and dirt fill, and built the rest of the overpass. When done, it's back to its original configuration.

[J N Winkler]

Since the highway here was widened to 4 lanes and 2 full shoulders in each direction, they have some unusually decent room to work with in the Philly area on 95. I think they can get three temporary lanes in, while reconstructing the overpass for three permanent lanes within the existing footprint, without much of a problem. And the narrowing of traffic from 4 lanes to 3 occurs so much in this area, the congestion shouldn't be terribly bad.

I think this repair concept works largely because I-95 indeed has shoulders wider than the minima called for in Interstate standards.  Google Maps' measure tool suggests they are 12 ft wide both left and right, versus the usual 4 ft left and 10 ft right for Interstates that don't carry heavy truck volumes.  As an ordinary traffic lane is 12 ft wide, these shoulders give the contractor a cross-section width equivalent to 12 lanes to work in without stepping outside the envelope of the existing roadway, with 6 lanes being worked on at a time.  It won't surprise me, however, if at least two of the lanes in each direction need to be narrowed to 11 ft to accommodate temporary barriers.  (I don't see them allowing head-to-head traffic separated by delineators only for a roadway that carries 160,000 VPD, and of course any drop-offs will need to be protected by parapets.)

The drawback is that staging construction in this way requires the contractor to work around traffic and thus will make the project last much longer.  The calculation appears to be that capacity constraint for a period of many months causes less pain than total loss of the connection for even as little as one month.

Also reports today are saying parts of the SB wall have to be torn down as well due to fire damage.

I was wondering about that and the likely impact on the timeline for rebuilding.  8700 gallons of 87-octane unleaded gasoline has a tremendous amount of energy, and it wasn't just the girders that were getting cooked--the bearings, abutments, retaining walls, and even the fill would have been catching some of it.  I-85 in Atlanta was a bit more straightforward to fix since the fire occurred close to the middle of the bridge, and even then GDOT's contractor had to remove and replace the spans adjacent to the one that collapsed.

[MASTERNC]

Interesting detail on the recycled glass material that will be used to carry I-95 temporarily.  I'm guessing these pellets are quite strong if they don't need as much as they would for dirt or sand.

The company supplying the glass aggregate, AeroAggregates of North America, has a production site just south of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. There, it mills glass bottles and jars diverted from landfills into a powder and heats it into a foam to produce small, lightweight nuggets that are gray and look like rocks – but are as light as Styrofoam, said the CEO, Archie Filshill.

Each one is about an inch or inch-and-a-half wide.

Mr. Filshill estimated that it will take about 100 box-truck loads to haul about 10,000 cubic yards of the glass nuggets required for the I-95 project. The total weight is around 2,000 tons, a fraction of the weight of regular sand or dirt, meaning that it will take many fewer trucks to bring it to the site, Mr. Filshill said.

PennDOT was the first to use his company's product after he began making it in 2017, and it is now approved for use by 23 state transportation departments around the country, Mr. Filshill said. AeroAggregates will divert material bound for other, less urgent projects to the I-95 project, he said.

[kalvado]

Interesting detail on the recycled glass material that will be used to carry I-95 temporarily.  I'm guessing these pellets are quite strong if they don't need as much as they would for dirt or sand.

The company supplying the glass aggregate, AeroAggregates of North America, has a production site just south of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. There, it mills glass bottles and jars diverted from landfills into a powder and heats it into a foam to produce small, lightweight nuggets that are gray and look like rocks – but are as light as Styrofoam, said the CEO, Archie Filshill.

Each one is about an inch or inch-and-a-half wide.

Mr. Filshill estimated that it will take about 100 box-truck loads to haul about 10,000 cubic yards of the glass nuggets required for the I-95 project. The total weight is around 2,000 tons, a fraction of the weight of regular sand or dirt, meaning that it will take many fewer trucks to bring it to the site, Mr. Filshill said.

PennDOT was the first to use his company's product after he began making it in 2017, and it is now approved for use by 23 state transportation departments around the country, Mr. Filshill said. AeroAggregates will divert material bound for other, less urgent projects to the I-95 project, he said.

Now this is real new technology @kernal13 should advertise.

[epzik8]

I mean, at least the people of these firms will make money off this???

[bwana39]

Interesting detail on the recycled glass material that will be used to carry I-95 temporarily.  I'm guessing these pellets are quite strong if they don't need as much as they would for dirt or sand.

The company supplying the glass aggregate, AeroAggregates of North America, has a production site just south of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. There, it mills glass bottles and jars diverted from landfills into a powder and heats it into a foam to produce small, lightweight nuggets that are gray and look like rocks – but are as light as Styrofoam, said the CEO, Archie Filshill.

Each one is about an inch or inch-and-a-half wide.

Mr. Filshill estimated that it will take about 100 box-truck loads to haul about 10,000 cubic yards of the glass nuggets required for the I-95 project. The total weight is around 2,000 tons, a fraction of the weight of regular sand or dirt, meaning that it will take many fewer trucks to bring it to the site, Mr. Filshill said.

PennDOT was the first to use his company's product after he began making it in 2017, and it is now approved for use by 23 state transportation departments around the country, Mr. Filshill said. AeroAggregates will divert material bound for other, less urgent projects to the I-95 project, he said.

Your quote doesn't reference anything..... It just assumes we have read a different thread and there is no link to it.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pennsylvania-plans-fix-collapsed-section-144416273.html

[kphoger]

Some more details

[...]

Once demolition of the damaged portion of the highway is completed, Shapiro said, crews will backfill the demolished area with Pennsylvania-made recycled glass aggregate. The Pennsylvania State Police will escort trucks carrying the fill from Delaware County to Philadelphia in order to ensure the material makes it to the site "as quickly as possible."

[...]

Interesting detail on the recycled glass material that will be used to carry I-95 temporarily.  I'm guessing these pellets are quite strong if they don't need as much as they would for dirt or sand.

The company supplying the glass aggregate, AeroAggregates of North America, has a production site just south of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. There, it mills glass bottles and jars diverted from landfills into a powder and heats it into a foam to produce small, lightweight nuggets that are gray and look like rocks – but are as light as Styrofoam, said the CEO, Archie Filshill.

Each one is about an inch or inch-and-a-half wide.

Mr. Filshill estimated that it will take about 100 box-truck loads to haul about 10,000 cubic yards of the glass nuggets required for the I-95 project. The total weight is around 2,000 tons, a fraction of the weight of regular sand or dirt, meaning that it will take many fewer trucks to bring it to the site, Mr. Filshill said.

PennDOT was the first to use his company's product after he began making it in 2017, and it is now approved for use by 23 state transportation departments around the country, Mr. Filshill said. AeroAggregates will divert material bound for other, less urgent projects to the I-95 project, he said.

Your quote doesn't reference anything..... It just assumes we have read a different thread and there is no link to it.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pennsylvania-plans-fix-collapsed-section-144416273.html

???  I knew what he was talking about, because he had made reference to it in this very thread just two hours earlier.

[NJRoadfan]

Why all the fill? Wouldn't two Bailey bridges be a bit more...... reasonable? It would be only be two lanes in each direction, but you wouldn't have to demo/remove all that fill afterwards.

[jeffandnicole]

Why all the fill? Wouldn't two Bailey bridges be a bit more...... reasonable? It would be only be two lanes in each direction, but you wouldn't have to demo/remove all that fill afterwards.

It would be interesting to see the time and cost estimates of both.

[davewiecking]

Why all the fill? Wouldn't two Bailey bridges be a bit more...... reasonable? It would be only be two lanes in each direction, but you wouldn't have to demo/remove all that fill afterwards.

Since at least one of the walls was compromised by the fire, perhaps they didn't feel it could hold the weight and decided filling it in (presumably with sheet piling walls on the sides) would be safer.

[ixnay]

Coming off the TacPal into Philly this morning, everyone is still being forced straight ahead onto Levick St.  No accessing State Road, no looping around via Elbridge St. to return to NJ.  Why?