Collapse of I-95 outside Philadelphia will raise the cost of goods along the East Coast

The collapse of a section of Interstate 95 near Philadelphia will raise the cost of goods across the East Coast, Pete Buttigieg warned on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters at the site of the deadly overpass collapse, Buttigieg said there's 'no question' the incident will impact the price of goods by raising the cost of shipping.

On average, about 160,000 vehicles per day used the impacted section of interstate, he said, some 8 percent of which were commercial trucks, or about 12,800.

'Obviously, that is a lot of America's GDP moving along that road every single day,' Buttigieg said. 'The trucks will have to take a longer and more costly route to get to where they're going.'

Buttigieg said the Transportation Department is working on establishing alternate routes for truckers, and is in contact with Google and its subsidiary Waze to optimize trip advice for drivers. 

Interstate 95 is the East Coast's main north-south highway and stretches 1,924 miles from the Canadian border in Maine to Miami

The aftermath of an elevated section of Interstate 95 that collapsed, in Philadelphia is seen on Monday. The disaster disrupts a key trucking route on the East Coast

I-95 is the East Coast's main north-south highway and stretches 1,924 miles from the Canadian border in Maine to Miami.

On Sunday, tractor-trailer hauling gasoline flipped over on an Interstate 95 off-ramp in Philadelphia and caught fire, killing the driver and shutting down the major East Coast transportation artery.

Officials have said that it could take several months to rebuild the collapsed portion of the interstate. 

Subodha Kumar, a professor of statistics, operations and data science at Temple University's Fox School of Business, said it is impossible to calculate the scale of shipping delays and higher costs caused by detours without analyzing all the alternative trucking routes.

But, Kumar said, the added cost will not be small, and the impact will last for weeks or longer. It will affect commerce to Canada, and create cascading effects throughout the supply chain, he said.

'Any small disruption can multiply exponentially and can make the changes much bigger,' he said, noting that the effect will be immediate on perishable foods.

The head of the Federal Highway Administration was at the site on Monday as the US National Transportation Safety Board investigates. 

Buttigieg toured the scene Tuesday and met with Philadelphia's mayor and other state and local officials. 

He said the federal government plans to provide emergency funding to help with the rebuilding but did not offer a timeline on restoring the highway. 

Buttigieg toured the scene Tuesday and met with Philadelphia's mayor and other state and local officials

The northbound section was left with a gaping hole while the southbound overpass was closed

A general view shows the partial collapse of Interstate 95 after a fire underneath an overpass in Philadelphia on Sunday

A person views the scene of a collapsed elevated section of Interstate 95 on Tuesday

Buttigieg toured the disaster site and then, over the sounds of heavy machinery and demolition, told reporters that 'every resource that is needed will be made available' to help Pennsylvania repair the bridge as quickly and safely as possible.

The collapse is snarling traffic in Philadelphia as the summer travel season starts, upending hundreds of thousands of morning commutes, disrupting countless businesses and forcing trucking companies to find different routes.

Excavation teams worked to clear the site on Monday, with authorities eyeing Tuesday as a test of traffic workarounds.

Pennsylvania State Police said they believe the driver perished in the accident, although the city's medical examiner has not officially identified the body pulled from the wreckage. 

Truck driver Nathaniel Moody's family members confirmed he was the driver of the tractor-trailer, now believed to be dead. 

The resulting fire caused the collapse of the northbound lanes of I-95. The southbound lanes were compromised by the heat from the fire, authorities say. 

The collapsed section of I-95 was part of a $212 million reconstruction project that wrapped up four years ago, state Transportation Department spokesman Brad Rudolph said. 

Pennsylvania´s transportation secretary, Michael Carroll, said demolition work is continuing around the clock and that his agency will release a replacement plan Wednesday for the roughly 100-foot section of I-95.

The remains are believed to be those of Nathaniel Moody, whose family have identified him as the driver of a tractor-trailer that caught fire Sunday morning

Buttigieg said he had not seen any sort of estimate for what sort of cost increases consumers might be facing, but said the trucking industry is working to make the most of alternative routes. 

'At the end of the day, there's no substitute for I-95 being up and running in full working condition,' Buttigieg said.

For now, I-95 will be closed in both directions.

The elevated southbound portion of I-95 will have to be demolished, as well as the northbound side, officials say.

State police officials said the trucking company had contacted them about the accident and was cooperating, although they have declined to identify the company or say whether it was properly licensed for hauling gasoline.

Authorities say the driver was headed northbound on his way to deliver fuel to a convenience store a few miles (kilometers) away when the truck went down a curving off-ramp and out of control, landing on its side and rupturing the tank.

Rebuilding the stretch is likely to drag into July or August.

In California, a similar situation happened with a highway ramp in Oakland. It was replaced in 26 days, Joseph L. Schofer, a retired professor of civil and environmental engineering from Northwestern University, said.

In Atlanta, an elevated portion of Interstate 85 collapsed in a fire , shutting down the heavily traveled route through the heart of the city in March 2017. It took authorities there 43 days to replace the span, Schofer said.