via Youtube
At the end of March 2017, a massive fire underneath Atlanta’s I-85, a major highway that handles around 243,000 vehicles each day, caused a large section to collapse. Since then, it has left traffic in the area in rough shape, and Atlanta is already known for their bad traffic, especially ITP. That’s hip Atlanta terminology that stands for “Inside the Perimeter,” or inside of the 285 outer belt.
Man charged with arson over fire that led to collapse of I-85 overpass in Atlanta. https://t.co/Vno5jE1vZj pic.twitter.com/jCbcnoNGem
— ABC News (@ABC) April 3, 2017
Since then, AJC reports that 3 suspects have been named in the fire, the cause of which is still unknown. One of the suspects has been charged with starting the fire. There were plastic materials left under the bridge, believed to be PVC piping, which may have factored into the high temperature of the fire.
Although the wreckage has been cleared, but there is still plenty of work to get done rebuilding the project. The Georgia Department of Transportation has stated that both northbound and southbound directions of I-85 will be closed around the area for the “foreseeable future” and they expect the road to be fully open again by June 15, which is still over 7 weeks away.
OxBlue, a timelapse construction camera company, is broadcasting the repair work live on Youtube for all to watch. You can check it out below:
Falls on the jobsite is the leading cause of injuries and fatalities in construction. Keeping up with housekeeping on your site is a great way to reduce risks of falls, but other protections, like rebar caps should be installed when rebar is exposed. A young construction worker recently found out the hard way what happens when rebar is left exposed.