I-95 Collapse: What it Means and Why Road Repairs Take So Long

 

The news on June 11, 2023, created dismay in the hearts of tens of thousands of truckers, especially those based in the northeast. The announcement that a tanker had crashed and exploded was tragic for the loss of the driver’s life. It also left the prospect that the vital artery would be shut down for perhaps months.

The Tragic Accident

Every trucker who has traveled on I-95 is aware that it extends all the way from Maine to southern Florida. It is one of the most heavily used commercial corridors in the nation, and it is a primary route through Philadelphia. It was in that city where the accident occurred. From early reports, it appears the driver of a tanker carrying close to 8,500 gallons of fuel lost control in a turn. He appeared to be making a left-hand turn from the northbound lane and overturned, igniting a huge fire under the roadway.

Initial examination of the damage caused by the intense and extended heat from the ensuing fire caused the northbound lane to collapse. It also weakened the southbound lanes badly enough to make them unusable. The first estimates coming from engineers examining the damage were not encouraging, forecasting a timeframe of months to repair the damage and allow the vital artery to again be available for use.

However, as recently as Sunday the 18th an announcement by Governor Josh Shapiro indicated the road may start carrying traffic as soon as two weeks from this past weekend. As explained at a press conference, an innovative technique using more than 2,000 tons of glass nuggets will be used to fill in the collapsed section to allow temporary passage. The foamed glass aggregate will serve as backfill to deliver a level surface. Then, construction will commence immediately to build a second replacement bridge for a detour. That will allow engineers and workers to clear out the damaged section and replace the exit ramp.

Everyone from the President to a wide range of politicians and industry experts have weighed in on the importance of this project, many echoing the statement, “There’s no more important project in the country…”

A livestream has been established as thousands of viewers are watching around the clock as workers tackle the massive project.

In the meantime, a united effort with local, state, and federal officials has produced and published a series of detours and alternate routes for interim use by commercial vehicles.

The Challenges of Road Construction

The news of the near-miraculous repair schedule takes many professional drivers by surprise. They are used to seeing some road projects take years. The idea of such a rapid solution has them asking, why not always do this?

Of course, repairing an existing roadway is a vastly different project than building out a new highway or reconstructing an existing one. There are three major hurdles that most road projects face. These include:

  • Permitting, funding, and pre-work requirements. In today’s world of regulations and environmental concerns, any project can take years prior to the first shovel of dirt being moved. Likewise, providing a safe environment for drivers and the workers often requires tradeoffs on when lanes are open and what work is being done.
  • The physical side of getting a roadway completed is, of course, far more complex than simply laying some concrete. Engineers speak of road construction in terms of the lane preparation and them building the “cross-section.” Depending on the soil and the terrain, the need for achieving a level roadway can require extensive earthwork. This can involve both cutting areas above the road and filling below.
  • Only when the earthwork is done properly can the process of “laying the road” begin. This requires multiple steps of laying aggregate, rebar, and only then the actual concrete that will be the surface.

All these steps add to time and costs, with a “simple” two-lane costing as much as $3 million a mile, and as much as four times or more than that number in some urban areas for multi-lane projects.

No one has yet projected the total costs and time to completely repair the damage from this accident, but it will not be cheap nor fast.

 

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