The first beams for the permanent reconstruction of Interstate 95 in Northeast Philadelphia are being set. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll was joined by Mayor Jim Kenney and Rob Buckley, president of Buckley & Co., to commemorate the important step in the project.
After a June 11 fire caused the roadway to collapse, a coordinated state, local and federal response to reopen the roadway safely and as quickly as possible forged ahead well ahead of schedule. It took just 12 days after the initial fire and collapse to get traffic flowing on I-95 again. A temporary roadway with six lanes of traffic opened on June 23.
“Today serves as another example to all that Pennsylvania can do big things,” Carroll said. “This section of Interstate 95 supports 160,000 trips every day, and we worked around the clock to reopen the temporary roadway and got traffic flowing again in record time. Thanks to the dedication of the workers and continued coordination between the Shapiro administration, our federal partners and the City of Philadelphia, we are one step closer to restoring I-95 to its full capacity.”
High Steel Structures of Lancaster – using steel from the Cleveland Cliffs facility in Coatesville – is forging the steel beams that were set on the new bridge over Cottman Avenue on I-95. Gov. Josh Shapiro visited High Steel Structures to highlight the work Pennsylvania-based companies are doing last month.
The beams on the southbound side were installed on Aug. 29 and the northbound installation was completed Aug 31. Next, the Buckley & Company team will rebuild the outer bridge decks.
“This is an exciting and important step toward the permanent reconstruction of I-95,” Kenney said. “The coordinated response to the I-95 collapse showed the country the strength and skills of our businesses and workers as well as the power of local, state and federal government to get the job done and ahead of schedule. We are grateful for the continued partnership of Gov. Shapiro, Lt. Gov. Davis, PennDOT and all our local, state and federal partners who have provided tremendous support to keep traffic flowing while we rebuild I-95.”
Once the outer decks are complete this fall, traffic will be shifted from the temporary roadway, which will then be removed so work can begin on building the permanent structure in its place and reopen the Cottman Avenue off-ramp.
The recycled glass aggregate that was brought in to fortify the temporary roadway will be reused in other projects along the I-95 corridor, including the I-95 Cap project at Penn’s Landing.
The entire project restoring I-95 is expected to be completed in the spring. Meanwhile, three lanes of traffic will be maintained in both directions throughout construction. ••
