Atlanta Interstate Collapse Sends City’s Commute into Chaos

Atlanta Interstate Collapse Sends City’s Commute into Chaos

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Schools were closed, businesses were encouraging employees to work from home, and traffic was extensively rerouted on Friday, a day after a section of Interstate 85, one of the main highways in the Atlanta area, collapsed from a fire.

No one was hurt in the collapse of the northbound lanes. On Friday, Department of Transportation bridge inspectors were at the location and said that both the southbound and northbound sections of I-85 that were damaged by the fire would need to be replaced, a statement from the department’s commissioner, Russell R. McMurry, said.



Interactive

It was not immediately clear when the work would be completed on the roadway, one of the most widely used in the Atlanta area.  “At this time, we do not have an anticipated duration for the repairs as we have not been able to fully access the site due to hotspots, but we do know that it is expected to be a time consuming event,” Mr. McMurry said.



The highway section, which was about 60 yards (180 feet) long, fell after 6 p.m. Thursday, during rush hour, in an area that passes through the Buckhead community, a residential, commercial and retail area several miles north of downtown Atlanta.



John Eaves, the Fulton County chairman, said in a telephone interview that smoke and fire were billowing over the northbound lanes on Thursday night, from burning tires underneath it.



Authorities have not said what caused the blaze. The area where the fire started is part of a state location used to store construction materials, equipment and supplies. The secured site contained materials such as noncombustible PVC piping, the statement said.



“We are as eager to learn the cause of this fire as anyone, which is why we will continue to work closely and in full cooperation with fire investigators to determine exactly how the fire was started,” Mr. McMurry said.



About 243,000 vehicles go through that corridor every day, Mr. Eaves said. "Traffic is a major concern here. So the issue now is when there is an accident on the interstate it backs up, but it is always temporary. But this is a structural issue that will require months."



The DeKalb County School District canceled classes Friday out of concern for the safety of its students and drivers.



Some metro Atlanta companies encouraged employees to telecommute. Georgia Power sent an email to employees who work at its headquarters in downtown Atlanta encouraging them to work remotely Friday, said a spokesman, Craig Bell, according to a report in the Atlanta-Journal Constitution.







Atlanta-based Coca-Cola told its employees in the metro area that it would have normal operations on Friday, but that those concerned should use their best judgment and contact their managers about working from home or about other alternatives, the newspaper reported.



Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for Fulton County and said state government agencies in the metro Atlanta area would delay opening.



He said in a statement the process of rebuilding would be lengthy because bridge beams must be cast, poured, tested, transported and individually installed.



The event was reminiscent of a tire fire that erupted beneath an overpass of Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, just north of Philadelphia in 1996, leaving the roadway too weak to support traffic.