GEOFF BENNETT: Traffic is moving again on a stretch of I-95 that collapsed less than two weeks ago in Philadelphia and reopen today.
It's been rebuilt on a quick timeline that few thought was possible, and may be a reminder of how much and how quickly infrastructure projects can be accomplished.
GOV.
JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): We showed the nation what Philadelphia and Pennsylvania are all about.
GEOFF BENNETT: From the beginning, the reconstruction of six lanes of I-95 has beaten deadlines.
After a truck carrying gasoline flipped and caught fire on a highway exit two weeks ago, causing part of the bridge to collapse, officials estimated it would take months to repair it.
Philadelphians braced for a summer of traffic slowdowns, and officials warned of supply chain disruptions from trucks diverted from a stretch of interstate that supported 160,000 vehicles a day on average.
But, within days, the old bridge had been demolished, a contractor hired.
Union crews worked in shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
And a livestream of the around-the-clock effort to rebuild the roadway had become a local sensation.
GOV.
JOSH SHAPIRO: I must confess, I'm completely addicted to the livestream.
I have it up on my phone, my iPad when I'm in the truck.
I look at it first thing in the morning, at night.
GEOFF BENNETT: Instead of building a permanent bridge, the gap was backfilled with material made from recycled glass, manufactured and supplied by a company in nearby Delaware county.
MICHAEL CHAJES, University of Delaware: The design is very, very simple, actually.
It's a series of retaining walls, and filling it with soil like you would with a sandbox.
GEOFF BENNETT: Michael Chajes is professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Delaware, who is not involved in the rebuilding project.
MICHAEL CHAJES: In this case, they're using actually a very lightweight glass aggregate that's about one-sixth the weight of a normal fill.
You know, in the bridge community, whether you're building a permanent bridge or a temporary structure, it's designed to the same standards.
So the public should not be concerned that this is not being built to the same level of safety that any roadway would be.
GEOFF BENNETT: A six-lane roadway has been put on top of the backfill, so crews can start work on a permanent bridge while traffic flows.
When that part is done, the temporary roadway will be removed and the bridge completed.
MICHAEL CHAJES: I think it's a brilliant solution.
It's going to get six lanes up immediately.
Obviously, it's going to cost -- it's costing something to do this.
But if you look at the cost of delayed traffic for every day for 160,000 vehicles, that's a tremendous cost when you put dollars to it.
GEOFF BENNETT: Funds for the roughly $30 million dollar project have so far come from the state and the federal governments.
Last weekend, President Joe Biden got an aerial tour of the site and pledged $3 million dollars in immediate emergency funding.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I'm directing my team, not figuratively, but literally to move heaven and earth to get it done as soon as humanly possible.
GEOFF BENNETT: At the same event, Governor Shapiro dramatically moved up the timeline.
GOV.
JOSH SHAPIRO: We will have I-95 reopened within the next two weeks.
GEOFF BENNETT: Days later, another shift.
GOV.
JOSH SHAPIRO: The traffic will be flowing here on I-95 this weekend.
GEOFF BENNETT: And then today, again, ahead of schedule, traffic is flowing.
ALEC STAPP, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Institute for Progress: It's a great example of when there's prioritization and a relaxation of procedure and process, you can actually get things done really quickly in the U.S. GEOFF BENNETT: Alec Stapp is the co-founder of Institute For Progress, a nonpartisan research, organization.
ALEC STAPP: It is not the largest infrastructure project ever, but it's also not tiny.
It's a six-lane highway that they're reopening in less than two weeks.
And it shows that the governor had a real choice in the matter and was able to actually move things quickly by coordinating with local and federal officials and by, I think, most importantly, prioritizing the outcome, which is getting the road open as quickly as possible, over the procedure in terms of how it gets done.
GEOFF BENNETT: Stapp says there's lessons to be drawn for other infrastructure projects, including renewable energy, even if what was done in Philadelphia is a unique and temporary solution.
ALEC STAPP: For larger projects, I'm not saying, yes, that a power line can be done in two weeks or a subway project can be done in two weeks.
But, again, to go back to the power lines, it takes us on average more than 10 years to build those.
I'm saying we could have massive benefits by just cutting that in half.
GEOFF BENNETT: In Philadelphia, Governor Shapiro celebrated the opening today and took a call from President Biden.
GOV.
JOSH SHAPIRO: Mr. President, thank you so much.
Be back soon.
GEOFF BENNETT: But he acknowledged that it wasn't a given workers would hit the deadline.
When rain threatened to delay the project yesterday, a jet-engine powered dryer from a nearby NASCAR raceway was enlisted to be on hand just in case.
GOV.
JOSH SHAPIRO: Mr. Mayor, they said it couldn't be done, you know, and, today, all of us here together proved them wrong.
GEOFF BENNETT: While traffic is now moving on the temporary lanes, state officials have not put a timeline on the permanent fix.
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