Maureen Milford, and Melissa Nann Burke

WIL

Crews on Saturday continued hauling away a 55,000-ton dirt pile next to the I-495 bridge that likely will remain closed for months, a massive mound that may have damaged the span's support piers after being dumped without state or city approval.

Traffic officials are preparing to make adjustments throughout the area's transportation system in an effort to ease the pain of the months-long closure along the busy I-495 bypass around Wilmington.

"We're still working on plans to convert from the emergency setup to the overall, planned construction setup," said engineer Adam Weiser, director of traffic safety programs for the Delaware Department of Transportation.

As engineers study damage to the bridge and begin to investigate what caused a cluster of piers to tilt, city and state environmental officials are looking into who authorized dumping the dirt near those supports. The bridge is leaning as much as 4 degrees out of vertical alignment in the direction of the dirt hill, which is approximately 400 feet by 150 feet and 20- to 30-feet high.

DelDOT's investigation has focused on the impact of the dirt dumped along a stretch about a football-field long east of the piers. Engineers have determined that "cracking, consistent with the lateral displacement of soil, was discovered in all footers" of the piers in that area, DelDOT has said.

An ongoing inspection has not uncovered damage to surrounding supports. "This makes the department more confident that the problem is isolated to the four piers that are known to have shifted," according to DelDOT findings.

Keogh Contracting Co. of Wilmington, which owns the dirt near the piers, continues hauling it away, along with other state and private crews.

The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control requires submission of a sediment and stormwater management plan when there is any land-disturbing activity such as dumping and excavating in an area of greater than 5,000 square feet. The agency administers the policy through local agencies, which, in the case of the dirt dumping near I-495, would be the city of Wilmington, said Frank Piorko, director of DNREC's Division of Watershed Stewardship.

Wilmington officials checked for the required sediment and stormwater management plans for that parcel and determined none "were applied for or granted for the stockpiling of soil," said Alexandra Coppadge, spokeswoman for Wilmington Mayor Dennis P. Williams.

"Currently, the primary focus is the emergency situation, and, once that's rectified, we can assess who is the responsible party," Coppadge said.

State review

Piorko said state officials are sorting through who was responsible for obtaining approval to dump the dirt on the 20 acres that DuPont Co. leased to Port Contractors Inc. of Wilmington, a materials handling and stevedoring company. Some of the dirt also was piled on state-owned right-of-way near the bridge piers.

Port Contractors has a storage licensing agreement with Keogh, company president Michael Evanko said.

DelDOT has submitted a request to DNREC to move the 30,000 cubic yards of dirt from the bridge site to 201 and 211 S. Market Street in Wilmington, said Tim Ratsep, DNREC's environmental program administrator in the Division of Waste and Hazardous Substances.

The Market Street properties along the Christina River are owned by BPG Land Partners V LLC, a Buccini/Pollin entity.

Samples of the soil have been collected and are undergoing analytical testing to see if there are any contaminants, Ratsep said. If the samples get a clean bill of health, a sediment and stormwater management plan will be required, he said.

Long-term impact

Traffic plans for the area include diverting some of the truck traffic away from Wilmington, where tractor-trailers are suddenly filling downtown city blocks as they cut over to I-95 or the Port of Wilmington, said DelDOT's Weiser.

Other changes will include adjusting signal timings, adding or adjusting detour signage and even re-striping turning lanes in some places.

"People very quickly adapt. They start changing what time they go to work and start changing what routes to take," said assistant professor Rusty Lee, who studies and teaches transportation systems and engineering at the University of Delaware. "And if this continues, trucking companies might shift their time of day for travel and their routes farther into Pennsylvania."

With I-95 and I-295 already operating at higher-than-normal volumes, traffic officials are keenly aware that the system's flow is highly vulnerable to incidents that could slow area highways and arteries to a halt – for instance, a major crash or vehicle fire. For that reason, DelDOT also is extending the hours of its roving patrols of roadside-assistance crews, which typically only operate during the height of rush hour.

"Right now, there's lots of cones and temporary stuff out there, and that will be replaced with more permanent barrels and barricades," said Gene Donaldson, operations manager of DelDOT's Traffic Management Center. "We're also looking at whether we need to establish other detours."

Some pinchpoints under discussion include whether to reopen the ramp from northbound U.S. 13 to northbound I-495. That entryway was blocked to reduce the amount of traffic entering the interstate so close to the shutdown bridge.

DelDOT also is working with Wilmington officials to relieve the gridlocked stretch of Spruce Street, which saw backups of up to 45 minutes between Fourth and 11th streets due to the signed detour for southbound I-495.

Crews erected and activated a temporary traffic signal at the ramp for Terminal Avenue, where northbound traffic is forced to exit. The signal will relieve state troopers who directed traffic at the intersection during peak hours since the closure began Monday, Donaldson said.

Delays along the I-95 corridor from the Pennsylvania line through Wilmington peaked at about 45 minutes "at the worst case," said Donaldson, who has reviewed traffic-sensor data. Delays averaged 25 to 30 minutes during rush hour, as commuters became aware of the situation, Donaldson said.

DelDOT has sent word of the closure to transportation agencies from Florida to Maine, urging travelers to adjust their routes to avoid delays.

"The ones who are the least knowledgeable are those going on vacation and who aren't even paying attention," Donaldson said. "We're trying to get the word out up and down the East Coast how to travel through Delaware."

Firefly plans

The agency advises motorists to check real-time conditions, estimated travel times and detour routes at DelDOT's live traffic website or smartphone app before starting a trip or tune into its 24/7 traffic radio broadcast on WTMC 1380 AM.

The I-495 closure will most certainly be felt by tourists with tickets to Delaware's next large-scale event: Dover's Firefly Music Festival, set for June 19 to 22. Organizers anticipate 70 percent of the expected crowd of 80,000 will travel to Delaware from the north, meaning the closure of I-495 will have a "significant impact" on festival traffic, Transportation Secretary Shailen Bhatt said last week.

In lieu of music fans taking I-95 through Wilmington, traffic officials are urging them to take the New Jersey Turnpike to the Delaware Memorial Bridge. Firefly officials are aiming to alert all ticket holders of the bridge closure, but there will surely be some who don't get the message.

Reporter Ryan Cormier contributed to this story.

Contact Melissa Nann Burke at (302) 324-2329, mburke@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @nannburke. Contact Maureen Milford at (302) 324-2881 or mmilford@delawareonline.com.