The Fort Pitt Tunnel fire damaged high-tech equipment worth millions of dollars and blinded most of PennDOT's interstate cameras in the Pittsburgh region.
"This is a hugely expensive problem," said Dick Skrinjar, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The fire Friday night in the closed inbound tunnel burned up part of the brains and nervous system of a $20 million camera network that PennDOT uses to monitor traffic, conditions and accidents along 14 miles of interstate in and around the city.
Skrinjar couldn't estimate the extent of the damage, but said 48 of the 61 cameras are out.
The cameras are linked to computers inside the Fort Pitt Tunnel complex by miles of fiber-optic cable. The cables meet at a specially designed computer board known as a multiplexor, installed by Lockheed Martin within the past several years.
The fire ruined the equipment. The city's fire department said it hasn't yet determined the cause.
The fire in the inbound tunnel, closed since March for rehabilitation work, was noticed about 11:20 p.m. Friday by construction workers.
If investigators find the construction workers are responsible for the fire, PennDOT likely will expect contractors to cover the cost of repairs. Otherwise, taxpayers will pick up the tab.
Attempts to reach Kim Schultz, the Fort Pitt project manager for the Trumbull Corp., PennDOT's primary contractor, were unsuccessful Monday.
PennDOT is paying Trumbull $84.2 million for renovation of the tunnels -- part of a decade-long, $226 million overhaul of the Fort Pitt Bridge and Tunnel and nearby roads. Work on the outbound tunnel was completed last year.
Skrinjar said PennDOT uses the cameras to get detailed road information to respond more quickly and effectively. The full-color, all-weather cameras are "better than broadcast quality," he said, and are often used by television news programs.
