PennDOT announced today that its response to the collapse of the I-95 bridge in northeast Philadelphia last year has been named a Top 12 finalist in the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ (AASHTO) 2024 America’s Transportation Awards competition.
After the fire and collapse of the bridge in the early morning hours of June 11, 2023, Governor Shapiro issued a Declaration of Disaster Emergency, which allowed PennDOT’s team to mobilize contractors quickly to demolish the collapsed bridge and procure materials to build a temporary roadway, including locally made recycled foam glass aggregate, officials said.
A temporary roadway reopened I-95 to traffic 12 days after the fire and collapse, which was well ahead of experts’ predictions. On May 23, 2024, less than a year later, the permanent reconstruction of the bridge was completed.
“Reopening I-95 in record time was the direct result of incredible collaboration and is a testament to what is possible when everyone is committed to taking action and finding solutions,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “I’m incredibly proud that PennDOT and the project team have been recognized with this award, and we hope that Pennsylvanians will vote for this worthy project.”
The Top 12 finalists – whittled down from 106 nominees from 39 state DOTs via four regional contests – now compete for the Grand Prize and the People’s Choice Award.
The competition evaluates projects in three categories: Quality of Life/Community Development; Best Use of Technology & Innovation; and Operations Excellence. The projects are also divided into three sizes: small (projects costing up to $25 million); medium (projects that cost between $26 million to $200 million); and large (projects costing more than $200 million).
The Grand Prize will be decided by an independent panel of transportation experts, while the People’s Choice Award will be determined by online voting, weighted by state population. Winners will be announced at the AASHTO Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in October.
Online voting is underway and continues through 11:59pm on Tuesday, October 29. Individuals can cast no more than one vote per day per project.
Cast your vote for the I-95 emergency response here. You can cast no more than one vote per device per day.
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Photo: americastransportationawards.org