Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The investigation continues into the exact cause of an overpass collapse this past Sunday on Interstate-95 in the City of Philadelphia.
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Investigators believe a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline crashed around 6:15 a.m. ET on Sunday, while he was driving around a turn at the end of the Cottman Avenue exit. An intense fire ignited, causing the Northbound lanes above to collapse and structurally compromising the Southbound lanes.
The driver of the tanker truck ended up dying in the crash on Sunday, and has been identified as 53-year-old Nathaniel Moody.
Officials estimate repairs will take several months to complete.
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In the wake of the I-95 collapse in Philadelphia, some may raise some concerns over any potential infrastructure concerns across New York State and into Western New York. However, local officials affirm residents of the state and the region there are regular check ups happening across the board.
"Critically important is the role of the state in ensuring safety. That's why we're one of the few states in the nation that ensures that all of our bridge inspection teams have licensed engineers, these people know what they're doing," said Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday. "We also are one of the few states that require inspections of every bridge every two years. Given the circumstances in Philadelphia, it's rather unique on how the whole accident occurred. But here in New York, I take this very seriously. We're going to continue making sure we have the resources available to make the repairs necessary. That's why last year, we had a record-setting $32.5 billion for a capital plan to make sure that the roads and bridges in this state are safe for our constituents."
Hochul says her administration will always stay vigilant when it comes to any infrastructure concerns across the state. She and her team will continue to monitor the latest developments into what happened in Philadelphia, and what can be done to avoid those situations from taking place.
"I've been already in communication with the head of our Department of Transportation to say, 'What's our record? When was last time bridges were inspected? Let's keep to the two years,' which is quite extraordinary. No other state does that," Hochul said.
Locally, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz has actively been on top of addressing any potential infrastructure issues during his 10-plus years in office.
"Just this year alone, we have a $50 million investment in infrastructure in total, of which $30 million of it is just roads and bridges. We do that because you don't want to see what happened in Philadelphia, just like what happened a few years ago in Minneapolis. When you don't invest into these assets, it can happen," said Poloncarz on Monday. "I know they're still trying to figure out what happened in Philadelphia. For us, the goal is to never have to even worry about that by just investing in the infrastructure so you don't have to worry about collapse."
Poloncarz also points out with living in a cold weather environment, roads and bridges in Western New York don't last as long as maybe they do in Florida or Texas. That means more money has to be spent annually to ensure no further infrastructure concerns are present across the region.
"I know other governments look at the same thing too, because you never want to have to have a story of one of your bridges collapsing, and then the fear not only that someone died, but then the impact it would have on the community long-term," Poloncarz said.
The County Executive says it will be of importance for him to continue to track what happened in Philadelphia, and if there may be any similar types of structure that could be in danger in Western New York.
"We'd want to take a look at ours to make certain if it's the same age, same type of build. That way, we don't have these issues," Poloncarz said. "Annually, we have our bridges inspected, so it's not like we just ignore it. We do have our bridges inspected, and as a result of that, we're able to actually get a good idea of what bridges need work, which ones have to be replaced."
Over the last few years, Poloncarz says the county has had to replace some fairly large bridges due to them reaching their lifespan. While they are very expensive projects, and the public tends to get upset when roadways are closed for a while, he says patience is required to ensure the safety of every resident.
"I'd rather close a bridge for a year and a road so we could replace it than to have the alternative, which is collapsing and then the issues associated with that," Poloncarz said. "We continue to do investments, and our bridge team and inspectors are always going out there to ensure that our infrastructure is safe."