Philly's collapsed I-95 bridge is set to reopen in record time thanks to NASCAR

Philadelphia’s famous for a lot of things, but the City of Brotherly Love probably wishes it wasn’t getting attention for the recent Interstate 95 bridge collapse that has left many on the East Coast wondering how they’ll get from one place to another in the already congested urban area. Highway crews are scrambling to reopen the exceptionally important bit of interstate, and they’re getting help from nearby Pocono Raceway’s Jet Dryer.

Though the problem was initially estimated to cause problems for weeks or months, the crews have already laid asphalt and are working on signage. The Jet Dryer, which is used to dry racetracks, will help dry the road to prep for painting and will clear debris to facilitate faster work. It’s aboard the red truck you see in these images.

Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro tweeted, “To rebuild I-95 on time, we need 12 hours of dry weather to complete the paving and striping process. With rain in the forecast, we reached out to Pocono Raceway for help.”

UPDATE: Steamroller smoothing out road surface on new temporary I-95 bridge at Cottman Ave as @PoconoRaceway jet dryer red truck ready nearby if/when needed to dry new surface so lane lines can be painted. PennDOT says the speed limit through this zone down to 45mph when opened. pic.twitter.com/LasMQRXqJV

— Steve Keeley (@KeeleyFox29)
June 22, 2023

Amazingly, the highway could reopen as soon as this weekend — just two weeks after the bridge collapsed — thanks to the workers and the massive Jet Dryer. Importantly, the structure that will open to drivers is not permanent. Workers have built temporary lanes to get traffic flowing, and a permanent bridge will be built next to the structure. Traffic will be rerouted to the new bridge in the future, but no timeline exists for its completion. The project will cost up to $30 million, and the federal government will pick up most of the tab.

The bridge collapse was caused by a tanker truck that crashed and burned underneath it on June 11. The truck exploded and caused the failure of bridge supports, leading to its demise. That part of the highway carries 160,000 vehicles a day, so rebuilding it was a priority. Local officials said that building projects like this can take years to complete, so the fast reopening and plans to rebuild are impressive.