Two weeks? This weekend? Why the I-95 reopening timeline changed

At first, experts predicted it would take months to get traffic flowing again on a reopened Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. Then, it would happen in two weeks.

And on Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that a destroyed section of the elevated freeway over Tacony will open to traffic this weekend — well ahead of schedule — on a temporary bridge built fast by skilled union construction workers on the job around the clock.

The news left many people surprised, in a good way.

“I think that speaks to the fact that we haven’t always had a can-do attitude around here, that we can get big things done,” Shapiro said as cranes lifted 13,000-pound panels for the sides of the temporary bridge, resting on a massive base of aggregate made of recycled glass.

Philadelphians have a reputation for pessimism, especially when it comes to their sports teams — or government competence. “We are going to make sure that we change that attitude,” Shapiro said. “This is what it looks like when we all come together, when we’re tested.”

Shapiro has been tightly managing expectations to ensure people would be pleasantly surprised by progress ever since the northbound lanes of I-95 collapsed June 11 after being scorched by a burning 8,500-gallon gasoline tanker on the exit ramp underneath.

Avoid overpromising and then overdeliver in the end is a fundamental strategy of effective political communications and by all accounts, Shapiro has walked that tightrope under high pressure.

Other political factors have also served to accelerate the timeline. President Joe Biden and his administration voiced support and guaranteed all the federal money possible for the rebuilding. Infrastructure is the signature issue of Biden’s first term, the 2024 presidential campaign is heating up, and Pennsylvania is a swing state with 19 electoral votes, a Democratic governor and Democratic state House.

To be sure, presidents and their departments regularly help states controlled by the opposition political party, too, in times of disaster. Shapiro also set the stage right away with an emergency declaration that freed up $7 million in state money and eased regulations that can slow infrastructure projects.

In addition, the temporary structure is right on schedule for such things, according to bridge and other civil engineers. This is about how long it takes to build one, absent complications like bad weather and supply shortages, they said.

Typically, a bridge like the one set to open this weekend can be finished in several days to a week, said Frank Russo, a 30-year bridge engineer based in Havertown who is not working on the I-95 project.

“It will look like just another embankment,” he said. “The rest of 95 is resting on fill when it’s not on a bridge — miles and miles of fill.” PennDOT was working on the two-step approach from the beginning, officials said.

Neither Shapiro nor anyone else has given an estimated timeline for the permanent rebuilding to take to be finished. But experts said that PennDot built the damaged bridge less than 10 years ago and has the advantage of already drawn-up design plans.

Engineers have increasingly been using accelerated bridge construction (ABC) techniques, developed to coordinate the steps in fabrication and building processes to slash the time it takes to finish a new or rebuilt bridge, said Sherif El-Tawil, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

For example, he said, girders and concrete decking panels can be precast elsewhere and brought to the site to be installed — the “Lego method.” Crews can also do much of the construction on the sides of the roadway and move completed pieces into place at night when they are ready, El-Tawil said.

A bridge can be rebuilt in a matter of weeks, he said, with the caveat that he does not know details about the I-95 overpass or what techniques might work there. “In various cases I’ve been involved in, though it seems like a really big effort ... it’s usually done quicker than in months. Our motto is get in, get out and stay out,” El-Tawil said.

After fire caused a section of I-85 in Atlanta to collapse in March 2017 — the last time an interstate bridge was knocked out by fire — Georgia’s DOT used accelerated techniques and $3.1 million in incentives for contractors to finish early. A new bridge opened within six weeks.

Shapiro was still managing expectations when he gave the good news of a weekend reopening. He said he was “confident” it will happen, but did note that contractors need a 12-hour window with no bad weather for the pavement on the temporary bridge to cure and to stripe the roadway.

And the governor is also managing the appetites of the men and women working on the project.

His office asked Starr Restaurants to feed the I-95 repair crew Wednesday night, a company spokesperson said. They planned to deliver Jackass Burritos, chips and salsa from El Vez, and cookies from Fette Sau for 80 people at 9:30 p.m. at Cottman Avenue and State Road.