2017 Study on the Effects of the Interstate 85 Bridge Collapse in Georgia

The March 30, 2017 collapse of an Interstate 85 bridge in Atlanta, Georgia, led to significant disruptions to daily travel. The bridge collapse dataset and related analysis focus on the resulting travel changes.

Data Collection Agency

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) prepared this dataset as part of the Federal Highway Administration's second Strategic Highway Research Program.

Methodology

On March 30, 2017, construction materials stored under an Interstate 85 overpass in Atlanta, Georgia, caught fire. The fire led to the collapse of a 92-foot-wide span of the interstate. Repair of this area and the affected neighboring bridge took 43 days. In response, ARC worked with several data providers to collect and aggregate transportation data relevant to the bridge collapse, enabling planners to learn how to better plan for disasters.

The datasets include INRIX traffic message channel data from the Regional Integrated Transportation Information System platform, Uber movement data, Georgia Department of Transportation traffic counts, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority ridership data, Streetlytics origin-destination data, ARC Interstate 85 bridge collapse travel survey data, ARC agent-based model run results, and supplementary Atlanta road shapefiles.

Data were collected for three time periods during the incident year as well as the preceding and following years for comparison.

More Information

For an overview of the study, refer to the ARC I-85 Bridge Collapse Dataset webpage.

Transportation Data

To access the data, refer to the ARC Activity-Based Model Downloads webpage.

How To Cite the Data

If you use TSDC data in a publication, please contact us and include a citation in your publication consistent with the following format:

"Transportation Secure Data Center." ([YEAR]). National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Accessed [DATE]: www.nrel.gov/tsdc.

Additionally, please note ARC's preferred citation at the bottom of the ARC I-85 Bridge Collapse Dataset webpage.