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I-95 Near Smithfield Open Again After Crews Make Repairs

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SMITHFIELD, N.C. — Interstate 95 near Smithfield re-opened Tuesday afternoon after an all-day shutdown.

Work crews closed both northbound and southbound lanes of I-95 near Mile Marker 95 to do work on the weakened U.S. 70 Business bridge.

Motorists spent the day following detours. Some wondered why crews could not have worked on the bridge at night.

"Working at night is maybe an option, but we have found that it goes along much faster in the daylight hours," said Jimmy Marler, a N.C. Department of Transportation bridge engineer. "And we can actually perform the operation faster and be able to get the traffic back on 95 quicker."

Engineers said Tuesday was the best day and time to fix the weakened bridge because it is one of the lightest traffic days on I-95.

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