Recycled glass nuggets to be used for I-95 rebuild in Philly following collapse

Pennsylvania plans to use 2,000 tons of lightweight glass nuggets to help rebuild a section of I-95 in Philadelphia that collapsed June 11. Officials say the collapse was prompted by an intense fire created by a crash in which a truck carrying gasoline was involved.

As reported by NBC10 Philadelphia, crews will work 24 hours a day until they can reopen the “critical commercial artery.”

Rather than immediately rebuilding the overpass, crews will use recycled glass to fill in the collapsed area to avoid supply chain delays for other materials.

“We’re going to get this job done as quickly as possible,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said at a news conference near the site. He said the work would be done with union labor.

Investigators are looking into why the truck hauling gasoline lost control on an off-ramp and flipped on its side, causing the collapse of the northbound lane and damaging the southbound lanes, reports NBC10.

Workers will fill the gap left by the collapse, which is roughly 100 feet long and 150 feet wide, by piling recycled foam glass aggregate into the underpass area. This will bring it up to surface level so it can be paved over. Following this, a replacement bridge will be built next to it to reroute traffic while crews excavate the fill to restore the exit ramp.  

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Demolition of the northbound and southbound lanes in the overpass was expected to finish June 15. The glass aggregate will arrive around the same time.

The company supplying the glass aggregate is AeroAggregates of North America, which has a production site in Eddystone, just south of Philadelphia. The company mills glass bottles and jars diverted from landfill to a powder that is heated into a foam to produce small, lightweight nuggets.

Archie Filshill, CEO of AeroAggregates, tells NBC10 the nuggets are “gray and look like ricks—but are as light as Styrofoam,” with each being about an inch to an inch-and-a-half wide.

It will take about 100 box-truck loads to haul about 10,000 cubic yards of glass nuggets required for the I-95 project. The total weight is around 2,000 tons, which is a fraction of the weight of regular sand or dirt, he adds.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation was the first to use the product after it began production in 2017. The company’s glass nuggets are now approved for use by 23 state transportation departments across the U.S., according to the company.