VALDESE — It's not often you hear of road work being completed ahead of schedule, but that's the case along Interstate 40 in Burke County.

A section of I-40 was closed Friday when the heat from a tanker truck explosion caused an overpass to collapse.

A three-mile stretch of highway between Icard and Valdese was originally expected to re-open this coming Friday, but crews got the work done early and the Interstate opened Monday afternoon.

The bridge itself will remain closed for at least a year, but the North Carolina Department of Transportation has created a make-shift bridge to handle traffic until then.