Said no injuries, thankful for that.

I hope nobody got no showed tonight because of it.

compared to the other 364 days a year?

250,000 cars a day use the stretch of interstate that will now be closed for quite some time. There will be detours out the wazoo and all those folks re-routed through streets in the surrounding area. I'm going to wait a couple weeks to see how things shake out before booking any appointments. I already make a two hour drive one-way...don't think I want to try 4 or 5 hours!

I live relatively close to the affected area, I figured it was going to be a nightmare this morning on my way to the office, however it was as if it was 8am on a Sunday morning...I wouldn't plan any appointments around peak traffic times, but other than that it really shouldn't be that bad.

My guess would be the trucks will be using PIB/Peachtree or whatever it's name is thru Buckhead, or they'll come down 75S..

Repairs are going to take a minimum of 6 months depending on weather IMHO...Gov.Deal doesn't wanna tell everybody that..LOL

I give it two months, tops. Might be done in one.

Awesome, thanks for the info. Keep us posted!

It's just amazing what you can accomplish if money is no object and permitting and procurement are waived.  There is no foundation work to deal with.  No planning; no public meetings; No "participation" requirements.  They have the original drawings.  It's why the governor declared a state of emergency...  basically DOT can do what they want to as long as they get I-85 back open. It LOOKS like they are going to give CW Matthews a blank check... which if you wanted to get it open ASAP - is exactly what I would do.  My guess is that there will be much howling and gnashing of teeth about it in the AJC.  

The cost is going to be eyewatering... But it will get done.

Remember that whole thing about the oil fires in Kuwait and how it was going to take years to get them put out...  Money talks.

If it's 2 months, what happens to all the businesses on that block of Piedmont?  Are they to be closed while repairs/investigation is ongoing?  I know Tattletales strip club is right there.  Did they stay open during the fire, or did people evacuate?  Will they remain open for the next few months?

END OF MESSAGE

If they can speed up the cure time of concrete and custom made beams, then I'd say it was an inside job and the replacement materials were on order 3 months ago...

when they had an abundance of warehouses in the sticks to put it in? If set on fire by a stray match it can take foam to extinguish as you saw, and it's not easy.  If I had to travel through there every day, I would map out my route by testing it when there is little traffic.  You can already see the impact on Peachtree Street from SoBuck to North of Lenox during peak traffic--gridlock.

Bad place to store PVC will cost taxpayers billions; eventually up prices of some grocerie 10-20% and change the way businesses in the area operate.

A miracle that no one was physically hurt at rush hour on I-85.

The surface streets have been a mess. Rerouting is making Buckhead unbearable!

That is a very realistic time frame.

The reason the materials were being stored there were, the material did not need to be kept indoors out of the weather, warehouse space comes at a premium per square ft, ground under an interstate is very efficient as it makes use of an area unsuitable for other uses. They also parked the HERO trucks under there, lucky they were all out directing the traffic. A simple stray match did not cause that fire, it was intentionally started without the forethought of what was actually going to happen...crackhead homeless dude has been arrested.

Just like the GSP Commander stated, people are going to have to get up earlier and plan their trip different, the routine everyone is used to has come to a sudden stop. FWIW, I took a trip from Sandy Springs down the east side perimeter, it was bumper to bumper at 1pm yesterday, just like a regular rush hour trip. My future route is now going to be going down 400 and up 85 since there will be zero traffic to that point. I'd estimate planning an extra 30-45 minutes for anyone that used that stretch of road on a daily basis.

Too bad we can't bet on this.  I think I would clean up with odds.

only the second biggest collapse for Atlanta this year!