Official: Repairs to interstate bridge could take months
MEMPHIS, TENN. — Repairs to the Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee could take months after a crack was found in the span, forcing thousands of trucks and cars to detour and shutting down shipping on a section of the Mississippi River, a transportation official said Wednesday.
A congressional Democrat from Tennessee flagged the crack as a warning sign of the urgent need to act on fixes to the nation’s infrastructure.
The six-lane bridge into Memphis was shut down Tuesday afternoon after inspectors found a “significant fracture” in one of two 900-foot (274-meter) horizontal steel beams that are crucial for the bridge’s integrity, said Lorie Tudor, director of the Arkansas Department of Transportation.
Both states’ transportation agencies said they would make sure the 48-year-old, 1.8-mile bridge is safe before reopening.
“This fracture had the potential of becoming a catastrophic event that was prevented by our staff ’s diligent effort in managing our bridge inspection program,” Tudor said.
Traffic was being rerouted to Interstate 55 and the 71-yearold Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, about 3 miles south.
River traffic was also shut down in the Memphis area until further notice, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said. The U.S. Coast Guard said 16 tow boats hauling more than 220 barges were waiting in line Wednesday.
The closure is creating traffic congestion in Memphis and in neighboring West Memphis, Arkansas. Dewayne Rose, West Memphis’ emergency manager, said officials there are using contingency plans to get trauma patients to facilities in Memphis or to other nearby hospitals.
“People around this area are used to lane closures, they’re used to construction, they’re used to shutdowns, and I think everyone is just a little on edge because of the uncertainty of the time frame of this,” Rose said.