LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — A local company is helping with the permanent fix to a section of I-95 in Philadelphia after a section of the highway collapsed in June when a tanker truck crashed into the underpass and caught on fire.
After the incident, crews worked 24 hours a day to build a temporary road and get traffic flowing again within 12 days.
The day after the collapse, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed a disaster declaration that allowed PennDOT to fast-track normal regulations around contracting construction work.
Pennsylvania companies immediately began work for the reconstruction. Cleveland Cliffs Steel Mill in Coatesville, Chester County is providing steel to High Steel Structures in East Lampeter Twp., Lancaster County.
On Aug. 7, Gov. Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis attended an event at High Steel Structures to highlight the accelerated permanent reconstruction. They both signed the first completed steel beam, also known as a girder. In total, the bridge will require 16 girders and 56 crossbeams.
Forging the steel pieces required for a 100-foot bridge would usually take about nine months, experts said. High Steel Structures is doing it in two months.
“To be able to do something in as little as two months is really extraordinary,” said vice president of technical services Ronnie Medlock. “I would say in my history at High Steel, which is about 17 years, we’ve done that about four or five times, but it’s always been when there’s an emergency situation.”
The governor and lieutenant governor took the opportunity to herald the state budget signed into law last week as bridging a partisan divide in the Legislature.
“When we take off our red jerseys and our blue jerseys and put on our Pennsylvania jerseys, things get done for the good people of Pennsylvania,” said Lt. Gov. Davis.
Shapiro also touted the budget’s spending on infrastructure and technical education.
“Our passed budget includes millions of dollars to make Pennsylvania more competitive on a national scale, drive economic development, innovation and job creation,” he said.
No timeline has been released on a final completion date for the permanent bridge.