Interstate 95 collapse repair plan to be announced in Philadelphia
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on June 14, 2023
(PHILADELPHIA) — Officials are expected to unveil on Wednesday a plan to repair an elevated section of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia that collapsed when a tanker truck caught fire in the underpass.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt and other officials will provide an update on the coordinated response to the I-95 collapse during a press conference at 11 a.m. ET. They are set to announce a reconstruction plan along with a timeline, according to Philadelphia station WPVI-TV.
Shapiro had told reporters on Sunday evening that “the complete rebuild” is expected “to take some number of months.”
The section collapsed on Sunday morning as a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline attempted to navigate a left-hand turn after exiting at the Cottman Avenue offramp of I-95 in Pennsylvania’s largest city, according to officials. Losing control through its turn, the truck fell on its side and ruptured its own tank. Once ignited, the fuel burned at a high enough heat to structurally compromise the concrete and steel I-beams of the overpass, officials said.
The northbound lanes of the affected segment collapsed, while the southbound lanes are compromised and will also need to be replaced. Crews have since removed most of the collapsed structure along with the tanker truck that was trapped beneath, officials said. They are now working to demolish the structurally unsound southbound portion of the roadway. The full demolition will likely be finished later this week, according to officials.
The Pennsylvania State Police said Monday that a body was recovered from the wreckage and turned over to the Philadelphia County Medical Examiner and Coroner. While authorities have yet to identify the remains, the family of Nathaniel Moody told ABC News that he was the driver of the tanker truck and had died in the crash. Moody leaves behind a son and two daughters, his family said.
I-95 is one of the busiest travel corridors in the United States and serves as the main north-south highway on the East Coast. An average of more than 160,000 vehicles travel across the impacted section in Philadelphia every day, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
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