TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Tanker Crash Aftermath Calls For Big Repairs, Patience

ADVERTISEMENT

By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

Updated: 06/06/2008 12:24 am

Transportation officials and motorists got the news they'd been fearing Thursday: Interstate 75 in Manatee County will be a mess for a month and a half.

The highway's southbound bridge at U.S. 301 will need to be knocked down and replaced after a tanker truck crashed through the guard rail and exploded under the bridge Wednesday.

The rebuilding will take six weeks. The Florida Department of Transportation hopes to open the northbound bridge to two-way travel by Monday.

Southbound drivers will cross the median on a temporary asphalt road, head south on the highway's northbound lanes, then cross the median again at a point past the Trooper J.D. Young Bridge over the Manatee River.

Concrete barriers will separate north and southbound motorists.

"It's a very simple modification in traffic, but it does mean a reduction in speed," DOT spokeswoman Debbie Tower said. Traffic speeds will be 45 or 50 mph.

That could mean another 40-plus days like Thursday, which featured an hours-long delay for thousands of motorists detoured through nearby Palmetto and Bradenton.

Both directions of U.S. 301 remained closed Thursday while a hazardous chemicals unit assessed damage from the smoky diesel fire.

The blaze burned so intensely that it exposed the bridge's steel support rods and caused its concrete beams and decking to crumble. The columns, decking and beams will need to be knocked down and replaced. Sections of U.S. 301 also will need replacing.

"What happened is the gas incinerated the diesel fuel, and that burns very hot. We estimated the fire at 1,800 to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit," Tower said. Concrete breaks down at 1,800 degrees.

Demolition of the southbound bridge has started and will take place through the weekend. Officials hope to have two-way traffic on the northbound bridge in time for Monday morning's rush hour, Tower said.

Troopers reopened I-75's northbound lanes late Wednesday. Southbound interstate traffic was being diverted to U.S. 41, where officials warned of delays of up to two hours.

A traffic study last year estimated 83,000 drivers use that stretch of I-75 each day.

Traffic on U.S. 301, which has been shut down since Wednesday afternoon, could be reopened next week with one or two lanes in each direction, Tower said.

Officials could not offer a timetable or speculate about costs for rebuilding the I-75 bridge until state engineers finish designs and identify a contractor. The state declared the scene an emergency to expedite the bidding process.

Selecting a contractor usually takes months, but work is expected to start next week.

While the interstate south of the bridge was empty Thursday, U.S. 41 west of I-75 was clogged.

Merchants at the nearby Prime Outlets discount mall were less than thrilled by the drop in traffic, though business started picking up slowly by Thursday afternoon.

"The weekends are our busiest days. That will be the real test," said Keith Cadrette, a manager at Zales Jewelry.

Across town at Uppy's convenience store on U.S. 41 in Palmetto, business was brisker than usual. A steady stream of traffic has crawled by Uppy's since troopers diverted traffic to the local highway.

Frazzled motorists stopped in for cold drinks or coffee. The restroom was also busy. "We're getting a lot of people trying to figure out the best way to go. They're asking me or anybody around," clerk Pedro Gonzalez said.

Although police and transportation officials diverted traffic to U.S. 41, shipping companies instructed their drivers to avoid the detour. That meant using local roads through neighborhoods.

"Our dispatchers and drivers know the locations very well," FedEx spokesman Jim McCluskey said. "We're good at implementing contingency plans. We're trying to avoid U.S. 41."

Shipping companies were advising customers in the area to expect delays up to a half-hour.

Manatee County schools said they did not experience any major problems. Thursday was the last day of school for Manatee students.

The driver of the tanker, Raymond Neumann, 54, of Brooksville, was flown to Tampa General Hospital with severe burns. He was listed in critical condition late Wednesday. On Thursday, the hospital said the family had requested that no information be released on his condition.

Reporters Mike Wells and Keith Morelli contributed to this report. Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633 or rshopes@tampatrib.com.

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT