Atlanta's I-85 Collapses In Flames, And Drivers Are S.O.L. For "At Least Several Months"

This is going to be a headache for a long, long time.

A massive unexplained fire collapsed a huge elevated section of Atlanta’s I-85, and according to officials, the road won’t be reopened for several months.

Perhaps the most startling thing about all this is, no one’s sure yet what actually caused the fire. This isn’t how bridges are supposed to come down.

It’s suspected that the biggest factor in the conflagration was stored materials under the bridge, notably a huge amount of HDPE (high-density polyethylene) pipes. No one thought to consider that a fire hazard since, frankly, nothing like this has ever happened before.

In the hours before the collapse, motorists on I-85 were treated to a terrifying scene as black smoke billowed up around the heavily-used bridge – the captured footage is shocking:

Luckily, there were no fatalities in the collapse. Drivers were stopped in all directions, and firefighters pulled away from the scene when it became clear that the bridge was losing structural integrity.

The fallen section is roughly as large as a football field, and wiped out the highway in both directions. According to initial estimates, repairing the damage will take “at least several months.”

Atlanta DOT estimates that some 220,000 motorists use the affected highway every single day. That’s nearly a quarter of a million people that need a new way to get to work. Mayor Kasim Reed put it bluntly: “I think it's as serious a transportation crisis as we could have."

In the meantime, Atlanta residents are being encouraged to use MARTA, the city’s public transit system, instead of commuting in vehicles. Just choosing alternate routes isn’t going to do it because, obviously, everyone is trying to do the same thing.

But if you simply have to drive, maybe buy some books on tape -- you're going to be spending a lot of time in the car.