On Thursday, Interstate 95 in Connecticut was closed after a tanker fire damaged a bridge that spans the highway.
The tanker truck was filled with gasoline and burst into flames in a three-vehicle crash on I-95 in southwest Connecticut, closing the highway and causing major traffic jams.
According to Gov. Ned Lamont, there were no serious injuries when the fire happened at 5:30 a.m. in Norwalk. However, the fire caused damage to the bridge above it.
“The heat from the burning fuel compromised some of the bridge, so that bridge is going to have to come down and that demolition is going to start first thing tomorrow morning,” Lamont said at a briefing Thursday evening.
Lamont said the hope is to reopen the interstate by Monday morning.
While the bridge was less than 10 years old, "the damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker ignited directly underneath the bridge structure,” Connecticut Department of Transportation (CTDOT) Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “The steel did begin to overheat and warp.”
The tanker had been carrying a load of about 8,500 gallons when it crashed beneath the Fairfield Avenue bridge, officials said.
The governor declared state of emergency, which will help "expedite some of the resources needed for us to respond to this situation."
CTDOT Highway Operations Bureau Chief Paul Rizzo encouraged motorists to take Interstates 87 and 84 as alternative routes, and asked commuters to either work from home or use public transportation.
Demolition of the overpass will begin around 3 a.m. on Friday and crews will lift the bridge out, which could take 24 hours or longer to complete, according to Lamont. Structural engineers also determined that the roadway will need to be repaved before it reopens.
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Source: USA Today, Audacy.com
