Interstate 70 detours for some Columbus west side commuters should be gone by early August. Department of Transportation Deputy Director, Ferzan Ahmed, says work is being sped up to replace an interstate bridge destroyed when a tanker truck overturned and exploded.Ahmed says five ODOT employees and 20 construction contract workers will accelerate repairs to the heavily used bridge on the eastbound lanes of Interstate 70 at the west outerbelt.
"By August 1st which is 30 days we will have this work complete. I-70 will be restored the way it was originally," Ahmed says.
Ahmed says 100,000 cars daily are being re-routed at the interchange. ODOT awarded a $1.2-million contract to fix the bridge to Shelley and Sands Construction Company.
Work will continue around the clock until the repairs are finished. ODOT spokesman Ahmed says the damaged bridge should be completed on time even if rains persist.
"So they will be working in the rain. There are certain things that cannot be done in the rain such as pouring the bridge deck, that cannot be done in the rain. But many of the other things, such as repairing the column, such as doing the form work, that work can continue in the rain," says Ahmed.
The highway bridge was severely damaged when a tanker truck filled with ethanol overturned and exploded on the ramp underneath the bridge. The explosion and fire weakened concrete support columns and exposed re-inforcing steel rods on the underside of the bridge. The deck was unsafe for traffic and had to be removed. Ahmed says the state will try to recover some of the repair costs from the trucking company that was transporting the ethanol.