ATLANTA (CNN) -- The traffic headaches from last week's collapse of an elevated portion of Interstate 85 in Atlanta could be over faster than initially thought.
June 15 is now the target date for rebuilding I-85's damaged sections, state transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry said Tuesday -- sooner than previous estimates of at least several months.
He called it a "very aggressive but attainable date" and "much better than our initial thought."
State will review storage policies
Also Tuesday, McMurry said the state will review its policies on storing materials under bridges and elevated highways -- an issue in this case because authorities say Thursday's fire started where the state kept high-density plastic conduits and other construction materials.
The state was storing high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes and fiberglass conduits under the I-85 overpass, and the fire spread to the pipes, McMurry said. Authorities say they've arrested a man accused of intentionally setting the fire.
The material was in a state-owned lot under the overpass, behind a chain-linked fence with a locked gate, with a "no trespassing" sign, McMurry said.
The storage is not believed to have broken any current state policy, but McMurry said lessons could be learned -- especially regarding whether the material was stored securely enough.
"Obviously what we know now, if we knew then, we would not have the material stored in the fashion that it was stored," he said, responding to question about how secure the site was. "The gating and the fencing was really to keep the material from being stolen or removed from the area."
McMurry said he already sent a letter to other states' department of transportation officials "to make sure they may want to make a full assessment" about what they are storing under their bridges and how they are doing it.
"Hopefully (there will) be lessons learned not only for Georgia, but the nation," he said of the coming review.
How the fire, collapse happened
The fire started Thursday evening under I-85 in northeast Atlanta, north of the highway's split with I-75.
At first, I-85 motorists drove through the smoke, and firefighters fought the flames below. It eventually grew into a massive fireball; the road was closed and firefighters withdrew as the structure weakened.
A portion of northbound I-85 collapsed, injuring no one. In total, about 700 feet of northbound and southbound I-85 must be replaced, officials say.
The closure is proving to be a major challenge for motorists in one of the country's most congested cities. Traffic is being diverted to already heavily traveled I-75, I-285 and surface streets.
Police arrested Basil Eleby on suspicion of setting the fire. He is charged with first-degree arson and criminal damage to property. Police also arrested two companions of his on charges of trespassing, alleging that they were with Eleby at the time.
According to an affidavit obtained by CNN, one of the companions "watched Basil Eleby place a chair on top of a shopping cart, reach under the shopping cart and ignited it."
Eleby told investigators that he and his companions talked about smoking cocaine under the highway overpass, according to the affidavit. He said he decided to smoke without his companions, and left before the fire started, the affidavit said.
Plastic pipes had been there since 2011
The fire eventually burned the HDPE pipes, which the state had stored there since 2011, McMurry said.
HDPE pipes encase and protect cables, and are widely used in the transportation industry to build "smart" highways that provide information to drivers, control traffic signal lights and tollways.
Details about the fire and how it brought down the highway are under investigation.
The flammability of HDPE is relatively low, said Tony Radoszewski, president of the Plastics Pipe Institute, a trade group based in Irving, Texas. HDPE would have to be exposed to a high-temperature flame for a considerable amount of time to burn, he said.
"Somebody had to start a fire. It doesn't combust by itself, it needs fuel," Radoszewski told CNN. "Someone had to do it. It's not like someone would have dropped a match and it started."
CNN's Jason Hanna and Michelle Krupa contributed to this report.
The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2017 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.
