Dive Brief:

• A fire under a section of I-85 in Atlanta, GA led the overpass to crumble last week, which will result in months-long repairs on the heavily trafficked highway, Overdrive reported Friday.
• The collapsed bridge connected downtown Atlanta with I-285, the city's outer loop, and will need to be fully replaced. As a result, the northbound and southbound arteries are indefinitely closed.
• The incident will force outbound traffic onto local streets and the outer loop, which truckers rely upon for their deliveries. The Wall Street Journal reports higher traffic may delay shipments over a day due to hours of service restrictions.

Dive Insight:

Atlanta avoided tragedy in the bridge collapse, but logistics routes passing through the major hub will suffer for months as the aftereffects of the highway closure will spill into city-wide traffic.

The section supports between 250,000 and 400,000 vehicles a day according to various estimates, which must now be routed through other local and federal roads. The Georgia Department of Transportation is rushing to complete the repairs, reportedly injecting $10 million in federal funds, deploying extra engineers and releasing consistent news updates to mitigate traffic.

ICYMI - Updated #I85BridgeCollapse detour map. NOTE: the for local travel only piece. Pls use caution, patience, travel safely and share. pic.twitter.com/bBxW3svFt5

— Georgia DOT (@GADeptofTrans) April 2, 2017

The incident shows both how pivotal road infrastructure is to the supply chain and the fragile state of disrepair faced by many roads deemed in good condition.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reviewed a report of the bridge's condition, last inspected in 2015, to find it had received a "sufficiency rating" of 78 out of 100. The bridge, last rebuilt in 1993, had some cracking and deterioration, but was otherwise in good condition. Independently, the bridge was not in danger of collapse, but faced with a "malicious fire," the overpass fell under its own weight. Fortunately, no injuries resulted from the incident.

The Atlanta region is a major logistics hub for the supply chain, with several major manufacturers and distributors alike headquartered in the region given its central access to the Midwest and Northeast Regions as well as ports in the U.S. Southeast. Industrial demand continues to grow in the region, too, according to a CBRE report and nearby ports are investing heavily to ensure the region's status as a hub remains.