Live: Truck fire causes I-95 collapse in Northeast Philadelphia

[brooklynite]

Source: WCAU Philadelphia

A truck fire burning under an I-95 on-ramp has caused a part of the roadway to collapse and the highway to be closed to traffic by officials early Sunday.

NBC's Randy Gyllenhaal reported that officials on scene said they’re investigating after the northbound side on I-95 collapsed before 8 a.m. and the southbound side is "compromised."

Gyllenhaal said that officials told him, "the roadway is gone."

Read more: https://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/breaking-tanker-fire-closes-i-95-in-northeast-philadelphia/3583285/

[BigOleDummy]

1. O.O

Must be a VERY intense fire to cause that much damage.

[sanatanadharma]

4. Yes. Hotter than the fires of the World Trade Towers

I know many claim to know the fires of burning planes could not cause the towers to fall; had to be (gasp) a conspiracy.

[The Jungle 1]

15. It is a surprisingly low heat that will compromise the strength of steel

Beginning at 300 C / 572 F. Steel strength decreases rapidly at 400C.
I don't know what was in the tanker truck that burned

[KS Toronado]

32. ABC evening news said gasoline

[The Jungle 1]

33. Gasoline burns hot.

The flame temperature of gasoline combustion can reach up to approximately 1,950 degrees Celsius (3,542 degrees F)
That is plenty hot enough to cause steel under load to fail. Carbon Steel melts at: 1425-1540°C (2597-2800°F)

The science of making steel and the heat treatment of steel is black magic. You can make steel very hard and brittle or you can draw it down and make it less hard but very tough and strong. Exactly what the engineer wants will be specified on the prints. If you forge steel it also will be very tough. Heat treatment changes the atoms in the steel at the atomic level. A lot of heat treatment is done with controlled flame.
Heat treatment of metal it is kinda interesting.

[KS Toronado]

34. You seem very knowledgeable about steel

I've had thousands of pieces of steel heat treated over the years working in aircraft tooling. I question if
structural steel used in construction is heat treated, but I'm not an engineer so I don't really know.

[The Jungle 1]

35. Wow, I also spent many years in the aircraft industry.

My last position was in a mechanical test lab. Which was a cool job. The engineer would design the part and have it made and give it me to break. I would build a test fixture and take the part to limit load and then ultimate load. What was stunning was the engineer would tell me what load the part would break at and they were always right! I think it has something to do with math. There were a lot of other tests we did to the parts and systems. Best job I ever had.

Structural steel is heated and quenched several times, creating a tough product that will ensure it is strong enough to support buildings, bridges, and any other structure it may be used in.
At the time of design a stress analysis is done on the entire structure. All the loads and stresses on the structure are involved in this analysis. Again a lot of math.

It took years but I grew a huge respect for engineers.

[TheBlackAdder]

19. You put heat on something with thousands of tons above it, and you only need slight deflection.

[DENVERPOPS]

23. LOL

I love hearing these weirdos claiming concrete can't burn when talking about 9/11. Any fireman will tell you that hell yes it can burn.
That is the reason the structural concrete in the Towers were all sprayed with Asbestosis during construction. Firefighters will also tell you that all you need is one level of a high rise to fail, and you get a pancake effect dropping floors below them continuously like dominos falling. (precisely like what the video's of 9/11 dramatically illustrated)

I was sickened by Christy Todd Whitman, (Bush appointee to run the EPA,) declaring the dust not harmful. Her own people in the EPA and also the USGS were telling her the NEXT DAY it was the biggest Super Fund Hazmat scene in the entire world. And the area designated was the entire area of Manhattan, not just the location of the twin towers.

The powdered concrete/asbestos coated cement was bad enough, but mix in the powdered chemical found inside the Fluorescent light bulbs, the heavy metals found in the Computer screens, etc And all that makes for the absolute epitome of "Methyl-Ethyl-Bad Shit".

[Grokenstein]

25. And now Republickscum are actively recommending Good Ol' Wildfire Smoke

It's harmless!! Maybe even good for you!! "Just very fine soot."

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/fox-news-dismisses-wildfire-smoke-harmless-climate-change-1234766334/

[UpInArms]

2. Oof

Link to tweet

[dalton99a]

3. .

[LudwigPastorius]

30. Yeah....they're going to need some duct tape.

[KewlKat]

5. Wonder what the truck was carrying?

Must have caused it to burn hotter?

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Any Combustible Liquud Could Do This

If there's enough of it. Gas, alcohol, industrial solvents...
They're all going to release between 30 & 50 million joules per kilogram.
If we have a truck loaded with 45,000 pounds, that's a lot of heat.
In addition, I read the burning truck was under the bridge, so all that heat was blasting straight up into it.
Just burned too long before they could mitigate, I guess.

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. The video at the OP link says not just 'truck', but 'tanker' (nt)

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

27. 8500 gallons of gasoline

The fire wasn't lacking for fuel.

[KewlKat]

29. That would do it. A few years ago there was a trucker who fell asleep at the wheel and went off an

overpass, landing somewhat under it...boy talk about fire. It too was loaded with fuel...The overpass was cordoned off for several weeks while the structure was inspected, etc...and then reopened. I really hated driving over and under that thing worried it would some day drop. You could see the damage to the under structure and all the stuff on the ground was buckled up...

I guess it's still standing. We moved away...but it was very bad and the driver was killed.

[Goonch]

6. 👇👇👇👁️👁️

[BumRushDaShow]

7. I got an alert text on this just after 9 am EDT

THAT is bad because... I-95... and huge exits near there (the last ones right near the city line in NE Philly).

I-95 is elevated all around there as it parallels the river.

Back in 2008 they had to close a 3-mile stretch around that area for a support beam crack.

This will obviously be closed for awhile throwing traffic right through the city (e.g., Richmond Ave., etc). Luckily the public schools will be out for the year next week so you won't have that traffic (teachers/support staff) out there.

ETA - The Roosevelt Blvd (St. Rte 1) parallels and was the "original" before I-95 was constructed but even with its 12 lanes, the Blvd traffic is horrible and good luck if you are pedestrian trying to cross that (been there done that).

[ananda]

8. Wow. I'm a big fan of the 911 shows on Hulu, so this was..

interesting to me.

[intrepidity]

9. Which shows? nt

[ananda]

18. 911 and 911 Lone Star

Those are great shows.

[machoneman]

10. Domestic terrorism? Just askin........

[Tumbulu]

11. That was my first thought

And right up their alley.

[plimsoll]

14. It's too early to speculate,

But this has been one of the scenarios in the Seattle Area for decades. Our infrastructure is vulnerable, and this probably will lead to similar events.

[brooklynite]

16. Why?

I-95 in Philadelphia is not a significant highway (most corridor traffic in on the NJ) and it’s not I. A significant location to (send a message)

Life is not a series of conspiracy theories.

[TheBlackAdder]

20. Not many easy ways on the PA side now, so the WWBridge and I-295 will get hit hard.

.


The NJTPK is 2 lanes below Exit-4, while I-295 is 2 lanes below RT-55. RT-130 is horrible east of Philly.
Road volume on I-95 seems akin to the North Bay Extension to the Holland Tunnel, so when that is closed, things go to shit in NYC/Northeast NJ.


The Northbound and Southbound exits for the Walt Whitman Bridge are a single lane, with the Southbound side being controlled by a traffic light, which really sucks.

The river crossings for the 2-lane each way Tacony Palmyra will be heavy as some people will use that to hit Northern Philly, or drive up to the next I-95 on ramp above Cottman. More northern crossings, such as the single lane each way Burlington Bristol Bridge will get hit, and that's not a good bridge for traffic either. It primarily places people onto RT-130.

So, while I-95 is a moderate roadway, spillovers will stress roadways and bridges not designed for it. Perhaps some can telecommute.


In any event, it's going to be messed up for the next few weeks as people figure out the best route solutions for their needs.

.

[Wuddles440]

24. You obviously don't live in the greater Philly area...

because this will cause "significant" disruption in both commuter and commercial transportation in the area!

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Wow!

That's massive damage.
Fire must have softened the structural steel.
CNN online reports that the fire was under the collapsed structure so pretty much all the heat was rising straight up into the supporting steel.

[RockRaven]

17. Reminds me a bit of what happened with the Bay Bridge in 2007. They got it fixed in a month.

Technically not the Bay Bridge, but a structure called the MacArthur Maze, which is a tangle of three interstates leading into/out of the bridge. The accident and repair is summarized in the History section of this article:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacArthur_Maze

[Deminpenn]

22. This isn't too far from where

I lived in Phila. IIRC, this would be the Bridesburg and Tacony neighborhoods. I've used these exits, but they aren't that easy to navigate because the access goes through the neighborhood streets.

When I liver in Phila, it seemed like every morning there was a report on KYW newsradio of a "TTA", tractor-trailer accident on 95.

There are alternatives like Roosevelt Blvd (US-1), but there are red lights along the road as it travels from the PA Turnpike through NE Philadelphia. There's always crossing over to NJ then returning to 95 past the closure.

[ancianita]

26. Wonder if the driver is alive, and if so, whether they're questioning him. Nothing here about that.

All I could find is "they have been unable to search for a driver inside." from the Independent.

[brooklynite]

36. Dead; body found today.

[ancianita]

37. Thanks.

[IronLionZion]

28. Tanker truck wrecks can be very dangerous

that's why many tunnels will have signs for any trucks carrying flammable or hazardous materials need to exit. It's different for bridges but this must have been an intense fire to cause a collapse like that.

[cstanleytech]

31. At least there are somewhat reasonable ways for people to get around it.

If it happens at certain areas around Atlanta people are screwed.

[eringer]

38. Backfill the side that didn't collapse

Backfill under the side still standing and split the lanes so that traffic can move both ways. Then rebuild the other side and switch it over. And then excavate the backfill and replace the other side.