Governor: Feds to pay most of bridge repair cost

RANDALL CHASE
Associated Press

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Delaware Gov. Jack Markell says federal highway officials have pledged to pay for 90 percent of the cost of repairing a bridge on a critical interstate bypass.

The span has been closed indefinitely because columns are tilting. Markell also said late Thursday that the Federal Highway Administration has approved $2 million in emergency relief funds for the initial response to the bridge problem. The total cost of repairs is unknown.

The bridge on Interstate 495 in Wilmington normally carries 90,000 vehicles a day. Most of that traffic is spilling instead onto already clogged I-95, which passes through downtown.

Officials are looking into whether piles of dirt dumped near the bridge are responsible for shifting the ground beneath the span. Officials say the northbound lanes are visibly slanted.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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