8 lanes to fully reopen less than a year after tanker fire destroyed highway [Video]

PHILADELPHIA – A portion of I-95 in Philadelphia that was destroyed in a truck explosion less than a year ago and temporarily fixed in record time will fully reopen on Thursday.

All four lanes on the southbound side of the highway near the Cottman Avenue exit reopened early Thursday morning. The northbound side will reopen its four lanes later in the day, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro‘s administration will lead a commemoration ceremony with other city and state leaders.

The eight-lane highway was reduced to rubble last July when a tanker truck carrying thousands of gallons of fuel overturned while at the Cottman off-ramp and exploded underneath an overpass. The driver, 53-year-old Nathaniel Moody, was the only casualty in the crash.

Quick funding from federal partnersand a disaster declaration from Gov. Shapiro helped crews start working on plans to repair the damaged highway. The temporary fix involved backfilling the cratered highway with recycled glass material and paving over …