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Delaware Department of Transportation officials and engineers said on Tuesday that the Interstate 495 bridge that spans the Christina River in Wilmington can currently support itself on its own. But that opening it to traffic could cause more damage to the four piers, each made of two 50-foot tall pilings, which are tilting.
"We don't want to put traffic back on it until we get more shoring in place," transportation secretary Shailen Bhatt said. Asked about the magnitude of the situation, the secretary replied: "You ask me 'Am I kept up awake at night by this?' This is the sort of thing that is a sort of Defcon 5."
Comment: Shift of the ground is the likely cause of the tilt (see video). Here is the Sott worldview of sinkholes during last year alone.