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I-40 bridge in Memphis could be closed for months, TDOT says
[WREG] Bridge closed for traffic after inspection finds crack.Officials with the Tennessee Department of Transportation said in a news conference on Memphis on Wednesday that they do not know when the I-40 bridge will be opened after it was closed for emergency repairs Tuesday afternoon. According to state authorities, Arkansas hired a team to take a look at the bridge as part of routine inspections every two years. The team on the ground saw a fracture Tuesday and immediately called 911 to have the bridge shut down. The fracture is close to the middle of the steel "M" span, TDOT said. Three plates in a two-foot-wide steel beam had separated by a fraction of an inch and a fourth plate had a crack. Officially known as the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, the structure carries traffic on I-40 over the Mississippi River between Memphis, Tennessee and West Memphis, Arkansas. It opened in 1973 and carried about 37,000 vehicles a day in 2018, TDOT said. It was last inspected in 2019 and is inspected every two years, TDOT said. Officials with TDOT said Wednesday they are in charge of maintenance and repairs, with the states of Arkansas and Tennessee splitting the costs for the repairs. Right now they are in the process of analyzing whether or not it will be safe for their crews to go back out on bridge, for barge traffic to travel underneath it, and whether or not it will even hold its own weight. This is a very big deal. They've shut down the Mississippi River traffic, too.
Posted by: Mullah Richard 2021-05-13 |
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