COLLABORATION
COLLAPSED BRIDGE ON I-95
BETSY ROSS BRIDGE
INDEPENDENCE HALL
EARLY ON SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2023, A GAS TANKER EXITING INTERSTATE 95 IN NORTH- EAST PHILADELPHIA OVERTURNED WHILE CROSSING UNDER THE FREEWAY AND BURST INTO FLAMES. The accident claimed the life of the driver, Nathan Moody, and the 8,500 gallons of gasoline being carried burned so hot that a section of the interstate collapsed. Miraculously, no other vehicles were involved in the crash and no one else was hurt. However, one of the busiest stretches of highway in the country, traveled by some 160,000 vehicles per day, had to be closed immediately and indefinitely. In the days following the crash, experts predicted the raised roadway would be out for months, at least. The New York Times reported that a similar collapse in Atlanta in 2017 had required “44 days of uninterrupted work to finish the repairs.” Penn - sylvania Governor Josh Shapiro warned the public that reopening lanes could take “some number of months.” Instead, thanks to the ingenuity and 24-hour hus- tle of a few family-owned construction companies, the interstate reopened in an astonishingly quick 12 days.
originally launched as a trucking business has grown into a robust construction company capa- ble of taking on all manner of public projects. Whether a tire fire, a toxic spill, or 40 million gal - lons of muddy floodwater that need to be pumped out of a downtown expressway after a hurricane— Buckley & Co. has it handled. With 100 employees and a fleet of heavy construction machinery, Buck - ley & Co. works with Graham Company, recently acquired by Marsh McLennan Agency, to provide their risk mitigation strategies. “Over the years, we’ve had to shift gears many, many times,” explains Buckley, who’s worked in the family business for 48 of his 65 years. But thanks to decades of taking on every challenge that came their way, Buckley & Co. is one of the only contractors in the state approved for any job issued by PennDOT, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
A PIECE OF PAPER AND A PLAN
It was early Sunday morning when Buckley got the call from a chief PennDOT engineer. Calls like this weren’t unusual, but they were always urgent. “In this line of work, you’ve got to be able to move quick on your feet,” Buckley says. When Buckley arrived at the scene, the north- bound bridge had already collapsed, and it was clear the southbound side was ready to come down. That debris would have to be cleared, and
LAYING THE GROUNDWORK
Within two hours of the crash, Rob Buckley Jr. was on site. Buckley is the third-generation owner and president of Buckley & Company, a highway and bridge contractor that’s been at work in Phila - delphia since 1928. What Buckley’s grandfather
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YOUR FUTURE IS LIMITLESS.™
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