I-95 Bridge Collapses

This is a sad story that we hate to report on, but it is also a necessary one to highlight the importance of infrastructure investment.

A bridge for one of the largest, most commonly used interstates in the nation has collapsed, causing massive detours for people hoping to travel along the east coast.

Details

On Sunday, June 11th, at around 6:22 A.M. Eastern time, half of  a bridge along the I-95 crumbled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

While the bridge collapse is a shining example of the importance of well-maintained infrastructure, it was not exactly derelict. What happened was that a tanker truck carrying hundreds of gallons of fuel ignited, and the combustion caused the northern side of a highway bridge, four lanes wide, to collapse onto the road below it. While the southern side is still intact, its structural integrity is unknown, and officials are playing it safe by forbidding anyone from driving across it. Fortunately, nobody was injured nor killed during the explosion and subsequent collapse.

Currently, estimates from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro for repairs and reopening of the section of the interstate are in the multitude of months. Until then, drivers are advised to avoid I-95 in the greater Philadelphia area altogether, unless they want to deal with heavy traffic congestion and a 43-mile detour.

Conclusion

As of the time of writing, there are currently no plans for mitigation of the issue: the Pennsylvania government is planning to just focus on repairing the bridge as soon as it possibly can. Because there are no stated plans to build a byway for trucks to continue traveling, our advice to you is to avoid the I-95 in Philadelphia like the plague.

What happens in the following months can be a case study for what will happen to the commercial transportation industry at large should bridges continue to decay. While not as egregious as a complete bridge collapse, potential safety hazards can still cause tremendous loss in economic productivity, as what happened with an I-40 bridge in mid-2021.

We will provide you with any updates regarding the I-95 bridge should any major developments occur.

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