Georgia highway to reopen earlier than planned

MARIETTA, Georgia – Authorities say they hope to reopen part of Georgia’s highway sooner than expected after crews quickly demolished a damaged overpass on Friday.

The goal now is for some westbound traffic on Interstate 16 to resume by Friday evening, state transportation officials said at the briefing. Then some of the traffic will be allowed in the opposite direction by Saturday.

Repairs to the viaduct went much faster than expected, said Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who flew to the scene by helicopter to brief reporters on the progress.

“Really this team is doing it a lot faster than we thought,” Kemp said.

Earlier, officials said they hoped to reopen I-16, which connects much of Georgia to its coastline, by the end of next week after an accident brought down the upper deck. of its support beams. Authorities decided that the fastest and safest way to reopen the intestate was to destroy the badly damaged viaduct and replace it.

A short stretch of the highway was closed in both directions after a semi-trailer hit the overpass on Thursday. Detours have been put in place on the neighboring roads.

“Apparently the semi-trailer has a dump truck similar to a dump truck,” said Russell McMurry, Georgia Department of Transportation commissioner. “It appears he was lifted, which then hit the bridge.”

Investigation into the accident is in its early stages, but “there are going to be charges ahead,” said Lt. Col. William Hitchens III of the Georgia Department of Public Security. He did not specify what those charges would be, saying it is still under review.

Interstate 16 is the main route used by many people on the Atlanta Metro who travel south to Macon and then take it to Savannah and Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. The bridge is located approximately 240 kilometers southeast of Atlanta.