The Connecticut Department of Transportation estimates that northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Norwalk closed by a fiery crash will reopen to vehicles by 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.

Lamont and Connecticut Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said Saturday that DOT crews and contractors “stayed at the site of the Fairfield Avenue Bridge throughout Friday night and continued working through the early hours of Saturday morning when additional equipment needed to remove the damaged bridge arrived.”

The crews completed the bridge demolition by 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.

The fiery crash on Thursday involving a tractor-trailer and a tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of fuel led to a massive fire left both sides of Interstate 95 in Norwalk shut down as crews assessed and repaired the damage the blaze caused to utilities and a bridge in the area.

The crews then began cleaning up “all the debris and materials from the bridge off the highway. They also began making necessary repairs to the highway to ensure that it is safe for vehicular traffic,” Lamont said in a statement Saturday night.

CT officials: I-95 shut down for extended period following fiery crash; bridge has to ‘come down’

“Crews are making great progress in Norwalk and I am encouraged that we’ll have one side of I-95 open later tonight,” Lamont said, in an emailed statement. “Completely removing that bridge in less than 36 hours is an impressive feat and is credit to the hard work and dedication of the contractors and Connecticut Department of Transportation crews, who are pushing to get the entire highway fully reopened in both directions by Monday morning.”

The statement noted that southbound lanes of I-95 will remain closed to vehicles through the day on Sunday, May 5, “because the pavement on this side of the highway was so damaged from the Thursday morning crash that those lanes need to be milled and repaved.”

Eucalitto said, “I continue to be thankful to the CTDOT crews and contractors who are working as hard as they can to get this highway reopened.”

“They made great progress today and I remain optimistic that we will meet our Monday morning deadline,” Eucalitto said. “I ask the public to remain patient with the ongoing traffic congestion and to continue using alternate routes and public transportation throughout the weekend.”

Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling praised the response from the Norwalk Fire Department, Norwalk Police Department, and the state, including Lamont’s office, the DOT, the Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security and state police.

“The fact that there were no injuries from the accident and that crews are working incredibly quickly to remove the bridge so we can reopen I-95 in both directions as soon as possible is a testament to Governor Lamont’s leadership and the high level of collaboration between each agency and level of government,” Rilling said. “I also want to thank our Norwalk residents and business community for their patience, as I know these temporary closures have been a complete inconvenience to their lives.”

A live video feed of the work can be seen at https://share.earthcam.net/CTDOTNorwalkbridge.

The statement noted that drivers are asked to remain patient and follow all posted signs and that commercial vehicles are asked to continue using alternate routes through Fairfield County until further notice.

The first half of an I-95 overpass in Norwalk, Conn., damaged when a tanker truck crashed and burst into flames beneath it, was taken down Saturday morning amid ongoing demolition efforts.

A live camera feed from the site showed a flurry of activity, with construction crews in bright yellow and orange working and wading through the mangled remains of the Fairfield Avenue bridge. On the other side, an excavator could be seen ripping and jackhammering at what remained of the structure while other vehicles helped to remove the rubble.

To help keep the public informed of the ongoing work to repair I-95 in Norwalk, @CTDOTOfficial has installed a live webcam at the site, which can be watched 24/7.

🎥 Check it out anytime here: https://t.co/OycBQtGxoC pic.twitter.com/AiVydGi0ry

— Governor Ned Lamont (@GovNedLamont) May 4, 2024

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Workers were also relying on massive shears shipped in from Long Island to help cut the support steel into smaller pieces, NBC Connecticut reported.

The bridge is being demolished due to damages it sustained following a three-vehicle crash early Thursday morning.

A tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline was traveling on the southbound side of I-95 in Norwalk around 5:30 a.m. when it was struck by a car merging from the right lane, according to Connecticut State Police. It then hit a tractor-trailer in another lane, sparking a towering inferno that ultimately compromised the Fairfield Avenue overpass.

No one was killed in the crash.

While the bridge was less than 10 years old, the “damage was pretty severe due to the amount of gasoline that was in the tanker,” Connecticut Department of Transportation Commissioner Garrett Eucalitto said. “The steel did begin to overheat and warp.”

WATCH THE DEMO VIA LIVE CAM

Eucalitto added that it’s unsafe for any traffic to pass beneath the bridge in either direction, so the entire bridge, which has beams that cross both spans of highway, must be removed. As a result, the East Coast’s main north-south highway has been closed since Thursday, leaving traffic snarled and motorists frustrated.

Gov. Ned Lamont on Saturday said plans to reopen all six lanes before rush hour Monday morning appeared to be on track.

Until then, drivers have to rely on slow-moving detours, directing traffic around the accident scene. Residents across Connecticut, New York and New Jersey, and trucking companies who use the section of I-95 were also notified via text alerts to seek out alternate routes and means of travel, leaving all secondary highways and backroads gridlocked in the wake of the crash.

About 160,000 vehicles travel that section of I-95 in both directions daily, officials said.

With News Wire Services

A Massachusetts man convicted of sexually assaulting a young girl in Connecticut over a six-year period was sentenced to 15 years in prison, officials said.

Joshua J. Frenette, 41, of Granville, Massachusetts, was sentenced by Judge Walter A. Menjivar to 25 years in prison, execution suspended after 15 years served, followed by 25 years of probation, according to Litchfield State’s Attorney David R. Shannon.

He also was ordered to register as a sex offender in Connecticut, as well as to obey three standing criminal protective orders, Shannon said in a statement.

Frenette was convicted of two counts of first-degree sexual assault, attempt to commit first-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor after a four-day trial in January, according to the Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice.

Court records show Frenette sexually assaulted a young girl between 2011 and 2017, while the victim was between the ages of 7 and 13. According to court records, the assaults occurred at various locations in West Hartland, Winsted and Bridgeport.

There was also testimony presented at trial that showed years of physical and emotional abuse the victim and two siblings were subjected to by Frenette, court records show.

“State’s Attorney Shannon would like to thank the Connecticut State Police, Western District Major Crime Squad and the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, Division of Scientific Services for their extensive work and dedication in this investigation,” the DCJ said in a release on Friday.