I-95 collapse: 8 lanes back open less than a year after tanker fire destroyed highway
PHILADELPHIA - A portion of I-95 in Philadelphia that was destroyed in a truck explosion less than a year ago and temporarily fixed in record time has fully reopened.
All four lanes on the southbound side of the highway near the Cottman Avenue exit reopened early Thursday morning. The northbound side reopened its four lanes later in the day, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration led a commemoration ceremony with other city and state leaders.
The eight-lane highway was reduced to rubble last July when a tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of fuel overturned while at the Cottman off-ramp and exploded underneath an overpass. The driver, 53-year-old Nathaniel Moody, was the only casualty in the crash.
8 lanes fully reopen less than a year after tanker fire destroyed highway
A portion of I-95 in Philadelphia that was destroyed in a truck explosion less than a year ago and temporarily fixed in record time will fully reopened on Thursday. PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll and other state leaders gathered with the media Thursday to commemorate the achievement.
Quick funding from federal partners and a disaster declaration from Gov. Shapiro helped crews start working on plans to repair the damaged highway. The temporary fix involved backfilling the cratered highway with recycled glass material and paving over top of it.
Featured
I-95 collapse: NTSB releases preliminary report on tanker crash that led to collapse
The National Transportation Safety Board has released preliminary information regarding the tanker truck crash and fire that caused the roadway to collapse.
The interim fix took workers about two weeks to complete and allowed for traffic to resume on the crucial stretch of east coast travel. Workers, meanwhile, were able to work on permanently fixing the overpass and highway.