INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — State highway engineers plan to take steel samples from two Interstate 465 bridges damaged in a propane tanker explosion to determine whether it is safe to reopen the Indianapolis expressway.
Officials kept the bridges closed on Friday, prohibiting any Interstate 465 traffic from crossing them and preventing southbound I-69 traffic from using the ramp to southbound I-465. The closure on the northeast side of Indianapolis is in the one of the area’s busiest traffic corridors, averaging more than 150,000 vehicles a day.
The state highway department says Thursday’s explosion on an I-69 ramp knocked out one of 45 concrete columns supporting the bridges that will need to be replaced. The steel samples from the bridges will undergo strength testing.
State and Nation
Indianapolis bridges closed after tanker explosion
- State and Nation
-
-
Man in crane at Texas college says he's armed
Police say the man climbed the 150-foot crane late Monday morning.
-
Obama to honor fallen troops on Memorial Day
The president was to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, and then commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
-
Dragon arrives at space station in historic first
Astronauts Donald Pettit and Andre Kuipers used the space station's robot arm to snare the Dragon after a few hours of extra maneuvering.
-
U.S. forecasters: 9 to 15 storms in hurricane season
Though this season isn't expected to be as busy as last year's above-average season, federal officials warned coastal residents to start stocking up on hurricane supplies and forming evacuation plans anyway.
- Alabama students below national average in reading
- Alabama 10th highest in rate of injury deaths
- Gen .Wheeler's Pond Spring home reopens Saturday
- State memorial to War on Terror victims updated
- Seafood industry fighting for life on coast
-
Military leaders, Clinton push for sea treaty
The United States is the only major nation that has refused to sign the treaty, which has been endorsed by 161 countries and the European Union.
- More State and Nation Headlines
-
Man in crane at Texas college says he's armed


