In wake of I-95 collapse near Philadelphia, experts say NYC area must look at infrastructure
WOODBRIDGE, N.J. -- Demolition has started on the I-95 overpass damaged by a tanker truck fire in Philadelphia. Repairs are expected to take months.
The collapse has brought up concerns about the reliability of infrastructure in the Tri-State Area.
CBS2 spoke to civil engineers on Monday.
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At a rest stop in Woodbridge on Monday, truckers commiserated over the traffic nightmare following I-95's fiery collapse.
"Some people are going Turnpike to get home, some people are taking 295. But either way, they all take you out of the way," Darrell Gooden said.
But even more pressing were the concerns over safety.
"We really need to look at the infrastructure and how to make it better," Sean Frazer said.
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The collapse drew immediate parallels to a similar gasoline tanker crash in 1997 that toppled a portion of the New York State Thruway in Yonkers, shutting the overpass down for months.
But experts say in both cases, the infrastructure wasn't the problem.
"The extreme heat can melt steel, and we really can't design for those kinds of extreme events. Otherwise, we could build a fraction of the structures," said Sam Schwartz, former New York City traffic commissioner.
Andrew Herrmann is the past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He says the I-95 overpass was in good condition and recently underwent rehabilitation, but other bridges across the nation are in dire need of attention.
"We are finding that the number of bridges rated good is now surpassed by the number of bridges rated fair, which means the bridges are getting older. They need rehabilitation," Herrmann said.
But civil engineers say that doesn't mean there is a danger to the public.
"The federal government requires bridges to be inspected at least every two years," Herrmann said.
And if they find something wrong, inspections will increase or the bridge will be shut down.