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UPDATED: Aug. 6, 10:50 a.m.
Before the barges came to a stop at the bridge, SEPTA suspended all Regional Rail service, out of an abundance of caution, though Rudolph says it's not doing any immediate harm.
“We have piers there that are 120 feet deep. Things seem to be getting better as the water is receding, but it seems it’s going to take some time."
He says they’re working with the Army Corp of Engineers and its contractor, Atlantic Subsea, to figure out how to move the barge.
Lt. Col. David Park, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Philadelphia District, says they have a game plan to get it out of there.
"There's three tugboats that we're planning to bring up the river to the location of where the barge is stuck at the I-676 bridge. That time frame as far as when they're able to come up the river based on the river velocity, we're expecting that to be early afternoon,” Park said.
Once the barge is pulled away, PennDOT district engineer Ken McClain says his team will do one last inspection before reopening it.
He says they did find a small, bent stiffener bracket. The bracket is welded to a bridge beam to prevent that beam from buckling.
"The bridge is not in jeopardy of falling down or a catastrophic failure and we will put out a contract to replace that a couple weeks after the barge is removed,” McClain said.
SEPTA restored service throughout the morning. The bridge and the expressway will stay closed until the removal.
Meanwhile, Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel said firefighters, police and other agencies took part in rescuing some 200 people from the heavily flooded Eastwick neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia and from an apartment building in Manayunk on Tuesday, where rising waters were putting residents in jeopardy.
Thiel said damage assessment crews are fanned out across Philadelphia because several neighborhoods were hit by the storm.