Current Events > Section of highway collapses in Philadelphia

(+) Yeah! (+)

RIP everyones commutes for the next 4 years

RIP everyones commutes for the next 4 months

Fixed that for you

Fixed that for you

I was going to say multiple years, but theres probably no more urgent a road repair than a collapsed section of the 95.

Even if it's urgent, it's still going to take at least a year.

As an engineer who has done work with the state and federal governments, the engineering design takes quite a while, the red tape of the government approving takes a ton of time, and getting the right contractor on board takes a ton of time. And all of those steps have to go in sequence.

...try at least, at the very least, one year. Designing a replacement section alone could take 4 months of engineering (at least). Then throw in putting out requests for proposals on the construction, vetting the bids, hiring the contractor to do the work, and then doing the work itself... Yeah, you are looking at probably close to a year at the very least (unless they rush job it, which I wouldn't feel safe with when you already have had an incident).

RIP everyones commutes for the next 4 months

Who would have though that decades of ignoring our infrastructure would lead to this?

This doesn't seem accurate for emergencies like this.

I don't think you can really claim that a tanker trunk being on fire under it causing it to collapse is a sign of 'ignored infrastructure'.

Not saying there isn't massive infrastructure repairs needed across the country, just this collapse is likely not due to that. >_>

I don't think you can really claim that a tanker trunk being on fire under it causing it to collapse is a sign of 'ignored infrastructure'.

Not saying there isn't massive infrastructure repairs needed across the country, just this collapse is likely not due to that. >_>

Do we know where exactly this took place?

Do we know where exactly this took place?

Ben Franklin Bridge? North of that? Im imagining a nightmare scenario for the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers this year. The damn stadiums are on 95, and thats the most efficient route to get there. Not to mention, think of all the shoo-bees headed down to the Jersey shore from Bucks and Montgomery Counties? This is an economic disaster for the entire area.

Fair enough, I think I'm just overly cynical because I live in Missouri and our infrastructure here is shit because the state let's it all just fall apart before they fix it.

Do we know where exactly this took place?

Ben Franklin Bridge? North of that? Im imagining a nightmare scenario for the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers this year. The damn stadiums are on 95, and thats the most efficient route to get there. Not to mention, think of all the shoo-bees headed down to the Jersey shore from Bucks and Montgomery Counties? This is an economic disaster for the entire area.

Cottman Ave

That's gonna fuck up traffic along the entire East Coast

I'm curious how the tanker truck caught fire in the first place.

The red tape will be expedited for this.

I don't know much about the US transport network but just going off this topic and how much of a big deal the road being closed sounds like... The bridge collapsing under such circumstances isn't the fault of poor investment in infrastructure, but the fact there isn't enough alternative routes to avoid major issues when one route has to be closed... Can't say the same about that.

...try at least, at the very least, one year. Designing a replacement section alone could take 4 months of engineering (at least). Then throw in putting out requests for proposals on the construction, vetting the bids, hiring the contractor to do the work, and then doing the work itself... Yeah, you are looking at probably close to a year at the very least (unless they rush job it, which I wouldn't feel safe with when you already have had an incident).

Even if it's urgent, it's still going to take at least a year.

As an engineer who has done work with the state and federal governments, the engineering design takes quite a while, the red tape of the government approving takes a ton of time, and getting the right contractor on board takes a ton of time. And all of those steps have to go in sequence.

This is a standard highway with predesigned sections. All theyre going to do is destroy the section before and after this, and rebuild it to the exact same existing design. Logistics of doing this work (including demolition of the sections around it), will take longer than the engineering to do this, as there is hardly any new engineering required.

I understand why and how you think this, but you're missing out on where they're going to have to (stress) test the preceding and succeeding sections to ensure the collapse didn't affect the internal structural integrity of said sections.

Ideally, yes, it'd be as simple as building a new section in but it's going to take months of testing and approvals

Even if it's urgent, it's still going to take at least a year.

As an engineer who has done work with the state and federal governments, the engineering design takes quite a while, the red tape of the government approving takes a ton of time, and getting the right contractor on board takes a ton of time. And all of those steps have to go in sequence.

A massive fire collapsed an Interstate 85 (I-85) bridge in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, on the evening of Thursday, March 30, 2017. After the 92-foot-long (28 m) section collapsed, I-85 was closed to traffic for 43 days between its split with I-75 and the interchange with State Route 400 (SR 400) approximately two miles (3 km). Three sections of northbound I-85 and three sections of southbound I-85 were replaced at a cost of $15 million; re-opening of the interstate was on May 12.[1]