A preliminary federal report fills in some details of what happened to cause a section of I-95 in Philadelphia to collapse this month.
The incident sparked a 12-day, 24-hour-a-day push to reopen the interstate. Traffic once again traveled that segment of the highway on June 23. Temporary repairs have opened three lanes in each direction. The speed limit through that section of the highway is 45 mph. No official timeline has been given for the permanent reconstruction of the highway, which is expected to take months.
The National Transportation Safety Board notes that this is a preliminary report only. All aspects of the crash remain under investigation while the NTSB determines the probable cause, with the intent of issuing safety recommendations to prevent similar events.
The interstate highway was abruptly closed Sunday morning, June 11, by the incident.
At about 6:17 a.m. on June 11, 53-year-old Nathan Moody was driving a 2017 International tractor-trailer with a 2004 Heil Heil Specification Package 406 tank-trailer on I-95. He exited northbound on the Cottman Avenue off-ramp.
The highway at this location was an eight-lane divided highway with four lanes in each of the northbound and southbound lanes.
The combination vehicle was operated by an affiliate carrier leased to Penn Tank Lines. It was transporting about 8,500 gallons of gasoline from Wilmington, Del., to a gas station on Oxford Avenue in Philadelphia.
The posted speed limit on I-95 in the vicinity of the crash was 55 mph, and the Cottman Avenue off-ramp was posted with a 25-mph speed limit and truck rollover warning sign.
The truck driver was unable to maintain control of the combination vehicle on the off-ramp. The truck rolled over and then caught fire under the northbound lanes of the I-95 overpass.
As a result of the rollover and subsequent fire, the driver was killed. The fire caused the northbound lanes of I-95 to collapse onto the Cottman Avenue off-ramp. The southbound lanes of I-95 were significantly damaged by the fire.
Read the report here. LL
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