At 6 a.m. Wednesday, chunks of concrete debris as big as baseballs fell from the 81-year-old South Street Bridge and onto the Schuylkill Expressway below.
This is not the first time the South Street Bridge has had problems. On June 7, a similar incident occurred and at the time, Philadelphia construction workers examined the bridge closely. The officials concluded that "the bridge [was] structurally sound," according to Joseph Syrinck, the city's chief engineer.
As a result of Wednesday's fallout and possible endangerment of commuters, the South Street Bridge and westbound lanes on Interstate 76 were closed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
During this time, construction workers examined the bridge and got rid of any more loose debris that could potentially fall onto the highway, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Commuters were forced to take a short detour through University City to get around the bridge and back onto I-76, causing heavy traffic backups and delays.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation "shut down that one small section under the bridge because we didn't want to put any motorists in jeopardy," PennDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Robinson said.
However, after inspection, PennDOT and city officials concluded that the bridge was safe for walkers, riders, motorists and even large trucks, and the bridge and expressway were reopened on Wednesday.
In June, Syrinck said that although the concrete of the bridge is old and rotting in places, the steel framework is still secure and "not a problem" and that the bridge does not pose any immediate danger.
To prevent such incidents from occurring in the future, the aging concrete of the South Street Bridge will be replaced in the weakest places. In fact, the city has been working on plans for the bridge since the late 1980s.
"We have been working on a replacement bridge for years now," Syrinck said.
Initial plans for the new bridge have been completed, and the $60 million project has now been "moved into final design, which will take 29 months," Syrinck said.
Syrinck added that coordination with SEPTA, Amtrak, the University and CSX freight lines was needed initially and pushed back the date of construction to 2006.
"All those things greatly complicated the matter," he said.
According to the Inquirer, the current bridge was built in 1923 and the project cost $664,000.
