Damage to Del. 896 bridge over I-95 prompts indefinite lane closure

Damage to the bridge that carries southbound Del. 896 over Interstate 95 will result in an indefinite lane closure, state transportation officials announced Wednesday.

The rightmost lane will remain closed until repairs can be planned and completed, but the rest of the bridge remains open.

“The bridge as a whole is structurally sound and safe to remain open to traffic in the temporary condition,” said Jason Hastings, chief of bridges and structures for the Delaware Department of Transportation. “Highway bridges using multi-beam systems, such as this one, are designed with a lot of redundancy so that an issue affecting the structural capacity of one beam does not affect the entire bridge as a whole.”

The crack in a support beam was discovered during a routine inspection and is believed to have been caused when the bridge was struck by an over-height vehicle. Officials don't know when the damage happened, but the bridge was last inspected in 2022.

“While the beam has sustained damage, the bridge remains safe for vehicles to use and the lane closure removes vehicle weight above the damaged area as a precautionary measure,” DelDOT spokesman C.R. McLeod said.

The damage comes as DelDOT is in the midst of a massive project to reconstruct a portion of the I-95 interchange.