On Friday, one day after an I-85 overpass burned and collapsed, the Florida Department of Transportation ordered a statewide inspection of all Florida overpasses that are currently under construction.
"The word came out that we don't want anything flammable or anything that's going to catch on fire underneath the bridges," said FDOT Central Florida District 5 spokesman Steve Olson. "You saw in Atlanta what it can do. The piece of infrastructure goes out of service, it creates major transportation problems."
Olson said the usual traffic on the I-85 section of highway, which is about 200,000 cars per day, is comparable to the traffic at the 408/I-4 interchange.
Just the Maitland Boulevard overpass, which goes over I-4, carries roughly 50,000 cars per day.
"So the consequences of a fire, major fire, under an overpass can really impact a lot of people," said Olson.
FDOT said the bridge checks were in direct response to the fire in Atlanta.
Police in Atlanta believe a man lit a chair on fire under a bridge and the fire spread to nearby fiber-optic cables encased in polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, pipes that had been stored for years under the overpass. The pipes ignited into a fireball, weakening and ultimately bringing down the I-85 bridge.
"The safety of the state's bridges is a top priority of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT),’ the FDOT said in a memo. "Due to our comprehensive bridge maintenance program, Florida has some of the safest bridges in the country. In light of the I-85 bridge fire and collapse in Atlanta, FDOT has asked its District Construction Engineers statewide to conduct a construction safety check of their respective bridges."
By the end of Friday, FDOT Central Florida District 5 said it has complied and no concerns were found.
"The District Construction Engineer contacted all of the appropriate construction personnel in the field to make sure no flammable materials were stored inappropriately. This was completed today (Friday) and included all state highway projects in our district, SunRail and I-4 Ultimate," FDOT District 5 said in a statement.
Olson said the FDOT has experience with emergency repairs to bridges after a bridge collapsed in 2011, through no fault of the FDOT.
A fully loaded tanker truck rolled off a Beachline overpass and landed below on State Road 3 on Merritt Island. It exploded instantly and burned so hot that it melted the State Road 528 overpass above.
"We had to demolish it and rebuild it," said Olson. "And it was a 21-day process. It was an emergency process, but we were able to rebuild that in fairly quick order."
The FDOT had to detour commuters, cruise ship passengers and tourists at I-95 and U.S. 1 during that three-week repair process.
"It was a major inconvenience for a lot of people," said Olson.
Olson said construction materials are stored in secure storage areas on inactive construction sites.