Pedestrian bridge partially collapses in Detroit

A pedestrian bridge in Detroit partially collapsed on March 27, 2020.

The structure is located at Interstate-94 (I-94) near Townsend Avenue. The bridge was impacted by a truck early in the morning and partially failed sending debris on the westbound direction of the I-94 and blocking the traffic flow. "At approximately 5:20 AM, MSP was notified that the Townsend Pedestrian Bridge had collapsed on WB (westbound) I-94 near Van Dyke. The freeway is completely blocked. The EB (eastbound) side of the bridge is not affected," Michigan State Police mentioned in a tweet.

According to officials, the truck carried a load that collided with the bridge resulting in its collapse. “We believe it was pulled down by a high load hit, probably a car-hauler, but Michigan State Police still have to determine the cause of that,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, stated.

Fortunately, there were no vehicles crushed by the debris and no victims associated with the collapse were reported.

Emergency crews, including the Detroit Fire Department, rushed at the scene. The eastbound lanes of the Interstate Highway operated normally despite the incident. However, when the necessary equipment was brought to the site, officials closed both sides of I-94 to demolish the bridge. Authorities made clear that the whole structure must be removed. The total cost of the removal is about $ 86,000.

According to recent updates, the facility was removed and the traffic flow returned to normal on I-94 on the afternoon of the same day.

The highway was used by around 140,000 vehicles before the burst of the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, traffic is reduced by about 50% as a result of people avoiding translocations.

In 2014, another pedestrian bridge collapsed at Southfield, Detroit, in a similar manner after being hit by the bucket of a truck. Unfortunately, the driver of the truck was reported dead while congestion issues emerged.

Last year, the Packard Plant bridge, an iconic structure located in East Grand Boulevard, Detroit, collapsed 80 years after its completion. The causes of the failure are not clear, but, the intense temperature changes probably deteriorated the (already) deficient structure. The Packard Plant is an old vehicle factory in Detroit that stopped production in 1956.