Interstate 95 in Connecticut - Disasters

Disasters

In January 1983, a truck with a brake failure slammed into a line of cars waiting to pay a toll on I-95 in Stratford, Connecticut. Seven people were killed. This accident helped lead to the removal of toll barriers throughout Connecticut, which was completed six years after.

On the morning of June 28, 1983, a 100 foot (30 m) section of the Mianus River Bridge in Cos Cob collapsed, plunging northbound I-95 traffic into the Mianus River below, killing three. The collapse was blamed on the failure of the steel pins to hold the horizontal beams together and inadequate inspection prior to the collapse. Northbound traffic was diverted on this section of I-95 for 25 days. Southbound traffic was unaffected.

On March 26, 2004, a bridge on I-95 in Bridgeport, Connecticut was partly melted by the explosion of a tanker truck carrying over 11,900 gallons (45,000 L) of fuel oil. Repairs were estimated to take at least two weeks, but the highway was opened to northbound traffic in only a few days. Southbound traffic resumed about a week later.

At 10:20 AM on November 2, 2007, a tanker truck, carrying heating oil plowed over the divider, knocking the side of a tractor trailer's trailer and striking several other cars in its path. Three people were killed, including the driver of the tanker and the occupants of two cars that were completely destroyed in the crash. The driver of the tractor trailer survived (his Pit Bull canine companion emerged completely unharmed) but the trailer of the tractor trailer was split open. At least three other cars were involved in this accident. A part of the road was damaged and took until the next morning to fully reopen, partly due to a cleanup after the accident.