Interstate 85 Bridge Collapses in Atlanta
CARS.COM — It looked like a scene out of a disaster movie Thursday evening as a large portion of Interstate 85 in Atlanta, engulfed in a massive fire and clouded in black smoke, collapsed. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency, and motorists were urged to steer clear of the area of I-85, located just south of Georgia 400 and Piedmont Road, as investigators worked to determine the cause of the collapse.
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Atlanta NBC affiliate 11 Alive reported that although it was a harrowing scene to watch play out, fire officials reported no injuries in the collapse. Meanwhile, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said the FBI has found no evidence that the collapse is related to terrorism.
Watch the video of the Atlanta bridge collapse above, and get the full story from 11 Alive, here.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia Department of Transportation reports that 243,000 cars pass through the collapsed stretch of highway each day.
In rerouting motorists in the coming weeks, 11 Alive reported, the city will look to an unlikely source for guidance: a two-decade-old blueprint for traffic control during the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta. Reed said that scenario provided the closest comparison to the current situation and that the city handled traffic well back then.
In tragically stark contrast to the thus-far injury-free Atlanta disaster, August will mark the 10-year anniversary of the Interstate 35 West bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed 13 people and injured 145 more. According to CBS affiliate WCCO-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul, the National Transportation Safety Board blamed a design flaw for the failure of the bridge, which carried an estimated 140,000 daily, sending dozens of occupied vehicles plummeting into the Mississippi River.
