geoff: Traffic is moving again
on a stretch of I-95 that
collapsed less than two weeks
ago in Philadelphia, and
reopened today.
It's been rebuilt on a quick
timeline that few thought was
possible, and may be a reminder
of how much and how quickly
infrastructure projects can be
accomplished.
Gov. Shapiro: We showed the
nation what Philadelphia and
Pennsylvania are all about.
Geoff: From the beginning, the
reconstruction of 6 lanes of
I-95 has beaten deadlines.
After a truck carrying gasoline
flipped and caught fire on a
highway exit two weeks ago,
causing part of the bridge to
collapse, officials estimated it
would take months to repair it.
Philadelphians braced for a
summer of traffic slowdowns, and
officials warned of supply chain
disruptions from trucks diverted
from a stretch of interstate
that supported 160,000 vehicles
a day on average.
But within days, the old bridge
had been demolished, a
contractor hired, union crews
worked in shifts, 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
And a livestream of the
around-the-clock effort to
rebuild the roadway had become a
local sensation.
Gov. Shapiro: I must confess,
I'm completely addicted to the
livestream.
I put up on my phone, my iPad
when I'm in the truck.
I look at it first thing in the
morning, at night.
Geoff: Instead of building a
permanent bridge, the gap was
backfilled with material made
from recycled glass,
manufactured and supplied by a
company in nearby Delaware
county.
Michael: The design is very,
very simple, actually.
It's a series of retaining
walls.
And filling it with soil like
you would with a sandbox.
Geoff: Michael chajes is
professor of civil and
environmental engineering at the
university of Delaware, who is
not involved in the rebuilding
project.
Michael: In this case, they're
using actually a very
lightweight glass aggregate
that's about one sixth the
weight of a normal fill.
You know, in the bridge
community, whether you're
building a permanent bridge or a
temporary structure, it's
designed to the same standards.
So the public should not be
concerned that that that this is
not being built to the same
level of safety that any roadway
would be.
Geoff: A six lane roadway has
been put on top of the backfill
so crews can start work on a
permanent bridge while traffic
flows.
When that part is done, the
temporary roadway will be
removed and the bridge
completed.
Michael: Think it's, you know, a
brilliant solution.
It's going to get six lanes up
immediately.
Obviously, it's going to cost
, it's costing something to do
this.
But if you look at the cost of
delayed traffic for every day
for for 160,000 vehicles, that's
a tremendous cost when you put
dollars to it.
Geoff: Funds for the roughly $30
million dollar project have so
far come from the state and the
federal governments.
Last weekend, president Joe
Biden got an aerial tour of the
site and pledged $3 million
dollars in immediate emergency
funding.
Pres. Biden: I'm directing my
team, not figuratively but
literally, to move heaven and
Earth to get it done as soon as
humanly possible.
Geoff: At the same event,
governor Shapiro dramatically
moved up the timeline.
Gov. Shapiro: I can state with
confidence that we will have
I-95 reopened within the next
two weeks.
Geoff: Days later another shift.
Gov. Shapiro: I can confidently
state right here, right now, the
traffic will be flowing here on
I-95 this weekend.
Geoff: And then today, again,
ahead of schedule traffic is
flowing.
Alec: I think it's a great
example of when there's
prioritization and a relaxation
of procedure and process, you
can actually get things done
really quickly in the U.S.
Geoff: Alec Stapp is the
co-founder of institute for
progress a nonpartisan research
, organization.
Alec: It is not, you know, the
largest infrastructure project
ever, but it's also not tiny.
It's a six lane highway that
they're reopening in less than
two weeks.
And it shows that governor had a
real choice in the matter and
was able to actually move things
quickly by coordinating with
local and federal officials and
by, I think, most importantly,
prioritizing the outcome, which
is getting the road open.
-- Road open as quickly as
possible over the procedure in
terms of how it gets done.
Geoff: Stapp says there's
lessons to be drawn for other
infrastructure projects,
including renewable energy, even
if what was done in Philadelphia
is a unique and temporary
solution.
Alec: For larger projects, I'm
not saying, yeah, that a power
line can be done in two weeks or
a subway project can be done in
two weeks.
But again, to go back to the
power lines, it takes us on
average more than ten years to
build those.
I'm saying we could have massive
benefits by just cutting that in
half.
Geoff: In Philadelphia, governor
Shapiro celebrated the opening
today and took a call from
president Biden.
But he acknowledged that it
wasn't a given workers would hit
the deadline.
When rain threatened to delay
the project yesterday, a
jet-engine powered dryer from a
nearby NASCAR raceway was
enlisted to be on hand, just in
case.
>> They said it couldn't be done
and today, all of us here
together proved them wrong.
Geoff: While traffic is now
moving on the temporary lanes,
state officials have not put a
timeline on the permanent fix.
♪♪