Trucks will begin Thursday dumping a recycled glass fill into the gap left in I-95 in an effort to quickly reopen the highway, Gov. Josh Shapiro said Wednesday.
Shapiro, at a news conference, did not answer questions about when traffic would be restored to the section of interstate in Northeast Philadelphia destroyed earlier this week in a fiery crash involving a gasoline tanker.
“We’re working as quickly as possible,” he said. “The backfill will be here on site beginning tomorrow. We are not wasting a single second.”
Behind him, crews continued to deconstruct the damaged southbound lanes, a process expected to be completed sometime Thursday.
Then, state police troopers will escort drivers hauling the backfill from Delaware County up I-95 to the site, at Cottman Avenue, Shapiro said. The plan is to pile the material high enough to be level with the elevated roadway and pave it over with six travel lanes.
“This approach will allow us to avoid delays due to shipment and supply chain issues and pursue a simple, quicker path,” Shapiro said.
Workers will be on the job 24/7, said Ryan Boyer, president of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, and Shapiro’s office is in the process of setting up a live video feed so the public can track the repairs.
“Philly’s a sports town, and I am a sports guy. I love to play, I love to watch and I love to coach, and I am competitive as hell,” Shapiro said. “This is our championship, and we are ready to go.”
Once the interstate reopens, crews will construct a permanent bridge on the outside of the temporary lanes, according to state officials. Traffic will be switched onto those new lanes, and workers will then remove the backfill and reopen the Cottman exit ramp, PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said.
Buckley & Company, a highway contractor based in South Philadelphia, has been selected as the contractor for the backfilling project, officials said.
The total cost of the operation remains unclear, though Shapiro’s administration is confident that the project will be federally reimbursed.
Shapiro’s disaster declaration, issued Monday, freed up $7 million in state dollars, and the Federal Highway Administration approved $3 million in funding late Wednesday, officials said.
The Philadelphia Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday night identified the remains recovered at the scene as belonging to Nathan Moody.
Authorities believe Moody was behind the wheel of a tractor trailer that lost control early Sunday morning while taking an off ramp at Cottman Avenue. The ensuing fire caused the highway’s northbound lanes to collapse.
Moody was driving for Penn Tank Lines, a Chester County-based firm that hauls petroleum and other fuels. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the incident, said agents visited the company Wednesday and found that it “was in good operating status” at the time of the crash based on information filed with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Detours and road closures continue to be in effect, particularly in the Tacony and Holmesburg neighborhoods.
Mayor Jim Kenney said any businesses in the area experiencing access issues should contact the city’s Department of Commerce at 215-683-2100 or business@phila.gov.
