WATCH LIVE: Demolition on I-95 bridge after fiery crash in Connecticut
The first half of an I-95 overpass in Norwalk, Conn., damaged when a tanker truck crashed and burst into flames beneath it, was taken down Saturday morning amid ongoing demolition efforts.
A live camera feed from the site showed a flurry of activity, with construction crews in bright yellow and orange working and wading through the mangled remains of the Fairfield Avenue bridge. On the other side, an excavator could be seen ripping and jackhammering at what remained of the structure while other vehicles helped to remove the rubble.
Workers were also relying on massive shears shipped in from Long Island to help cut the support steel into smaller pieces, NBC Connecticut reported.
The bridge is being demolished due to damages it sustained following a three-vehicle crash early Thursday morning.
A tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline was traveling on the southbound side of I-95 in Norwalk around 5:30 a.m. when it was struck by a car merging from the right lane, according to Connecticut State Police. It then hit a tractor-trailer in another lane, sparking a towering inferno that ultimately compromised the Fairfield Avenue overpass.
No one was killed in the crash.
While the bridge was less than 10 years old, the “damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker,” Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “The steel did begin to overheat and warp.”
Eucalitto added that it’s unsafe for any traffic to pass beneath the bridge in either direction, so the entire bridge, which has beams that cross both spans of highway, must be removed. As a result, the East Coast’s main north-south highway has been closed since Thursday, leaving traffic snarled and motorists frustrated.
Gov. Ned Lamont on Saturday said plans to reopen all six lanes before rush hour Monday morning appeared to be on track.
Until then, drivers have to rely on slow-moving detours, directing traffic around the accident scene. Residents across Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and trucking companies who use the section of I-95 were also notified via text alerts to seek out alternate routes and means of travel, leaving all secondary highways and backroads gridlocked in the wake of the crash.
About 160,000 vehicles travel that section of I-95 in both directions daily, officials said.
With News Wire Services
