Northeastern Pennsylvania -
The collapsed Interstate 95 overpass in Philadelphia is expected to reopen much ahead of schedule - and a jet dryer from Pocono Raceway in Northeastern Pennsylvania was on hand to make sure.
With possible rain forecasted in the days to follow, one of the NASCAR track’s jet dryers was deployed to the construction zone to help in case the newly repaved, temporary road got wet from rain prior to line painting.
As it turns out, like on a good race weekend, the “weather held” and the dryer never needed to be used, said Ricky Durst, a marketing official for Pocono Raceway.
When rain was forecasted, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration reached out to the raceway for a dryer through Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Secretary Mike Carroll, who has close contacts at Pocono Raceway.
“Thankfully, the weather held off and our support of the Shapiro Administration and PennDOT remained in an on-call role,” a statement provided by Durst said. “As with our NASCAR events, advance planning for every scenario is part of the job and we couldn’t be more pleased to lend our support.”
Shapiro in a tweet Thursday morning said crews needed 12 hours of dry weather to complete the reconstruction by this weekend, which was ahead of the previously projected two-week timeline for reopening a temporary stretch.
The jet dryer — a Chevy Silverado with a helicopter turbine — was on hand to help dry the roadway to complete line painting prior to reopening the road, Shapiro’s office said.
“I said the other day, it’s the ingenuity of Delco (Delaware County) meets the grit of Philadelphia. Let’s layer on top of that the ingenuity of Pocono Raceway and the amazing guys at NASCAR up there helping out with 95,” Shapiro said in an interview with Fox 29 in Philadelphia.
The governor said the assistance of the raceway was part of an “all hands on deck” push to reopen the roadway since the June 11 collapse of the overpass due to a tanker truck fire.
Shapiro’s office credited Carroll, a former state representative from Avoca, with reaching out to his friends at Pocono Raceway to arrange the jet dryer.
The track’s Chevy Camaro pace car accompanied the jet dryer to the construction site Thursday.
Paving of the temporary Interstate 95 began Wednesday and continued Thursday.
Both directions of the heavily traveled interstate have been closed, pinching off traffic on the East Coast’s main north-south highway.
PennDOT Press Secretary Alexis Campbell said the jet dryer, which blows air at 1400 degrees, will be used to dry the fresh asphalt right before highway lines are painted on it.
Raceway president Ben May said the track wouldn’t charge the state for the use of the dryer, or have it available.
“Absolutely not,” May said Thursday, calling it “a very, very, very small contribution to the spectacular work that’s being done by a lot of people.”
