PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With a spell of rainy weather throwing a wrench in the reconstruction of I-95, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office called a NASCAR raceway to help keep the project on track.
Looks like it worked, because Gov. Josh Shapiro and Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll announced Thursday that the expresswayt is set to open to traffic on Friday, days ahead of schedule.
Calling on NASCAR
Shapiro said in a tweet that 12 hours of dry weather are needed to properly construct the new roadway, raising concerns of delays when the rain began to fall. If the ground is wet, lines cannot be drawn on the road.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Mike Carroll called in the experts at the Pocono Raceway.
The Pocono Raceway team uses a high-powered jet dryer for the 2.5-mile racetrack ahead of bad weather situations, explained Raceway President Ben May. And the same could be done for I-95.
“What they would use our equipment for is to dry the new asphalt in order to put the lines down,” May said.
The dyer, fitted with a helicopter turbine, arrived Thursday morning at the I-95 reconstruction site by way of a state police escort.
“The jet dryer is mounted on the back of a Chevy Silverado, a heavy-duty truck. It shoots out a tremendous amount of very hot air into a small area,” May said.
The hot air flow is directed downward, and it adjusts to keep the ground stable.
May said the unit will keep the area dry for as long as necessary until the job is done.
“We’ve been doing business in the commonwealth for over 50 years. It's our 50th season on the NASCAR circuit,” he said, “so anything we can do to help the commonwealth, help the state of Pennsylvania, help the administration, and just be part of the community and region, we do it at the drop of a hat.”
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