As if things aren't bad enough. I-40 bridge at Memphis closed indefinitely

[Ky hills]

Won't it be just as easy to go through Kentucky and cross old Mississippi river in the Northeast corner of Arkansas ?

There is a bridge in that area some where. Might be in the Southeast corner of Missouri ?

I think you can hit 412 right into Oklahoma ? Don't know for sure. Just that There is a bridge in that area.

Seems like there is a bridge around Fulton Ky that would be pretty close to northern AR. Not sure how the route would be getting from point to point. I do know that I64 runs all the way across KY and into Missouri and would be a straight route that far, but not sure how out of the way it would be for him as he would have to go north a ways to get on it.

 

[504RP]

Seems like there is a bridge around Fulton Ky that would be pretty close to northern AR. Not sure how the route would be getting from point to point. I do know that I64 runs all the way across KY and into Missouri and would be a straight route that far, but not sure how out of the way it would be for him as he would have to go north a ways to get on it.

I think your right about that. There is a interstate that runs North and South from I40 just before you cross that bridge that goes into Memphis.

I use to go to Kentucky and I always took that interstate North and crossed the Mississippi over into Kentucky and went through Fulton Kentucky.

So he could cross over there head South down to I40.

 

[504RP]

That's I55 that runs North and South. You cross the Mississippi at Wickliffe Kentucky.

 

[504RP]

That's West of Paducah Kentucky.

 

[Col Reb]

People need learn to support theirself and their own family's. Government needs to stop giving hand out its ridiculous and just enable them. Yes, there may be a very few cases people actually need the help but most people are to lazy to work and pay for stuff theirself.

I'd rather see safe roads, bridges, sideways, bikelanes, nice parks, libraries, ect. Again just my opinion.

Problem is half the country has no desire to support themselves & love eating Democrat pie & the Democrats chefs prefer it to be that way. They just need a few more to get their pieces of the pie. Luckily for them , they're on their way across the border as we speak to get their slice.

 

[Chevy]

Problem is half the country has no desire to support themselves & love eating Democrat pie & the Democrats chefs prefer it to be that way. They just need a few more to get their pieces of the pie. Luckily for them , they're on their way across the border as we speak to get their slice.

Dang I want some pie. Thanks for making me hungry. Key lime cheese cake sound delicious too. I'd drive to Florida jist for some keylime pie.

 

[Dave]

Bridge on I-40 in Memphis closed. Let me think about that for a minute...... No, won't affect me at all.

 

[Nesikep]

Bridge on I-40 in Memphis closed. Let me think about that for a minute...... No, won't affect me at all.

well, maybe fuel prices will go up.. they find any reason to do that!

 

[greybeard]

Am I the only one that thinks it's strange like it was cut? I'm definitely not a bridge expert or anything just looks strange to me. That's going to cause more fuel problems.

pretty common for a fatigue crack, tho that is what I would call a complete shear. It happened in the middle of the bridge near where the overhead trusses meet the horizontal beams.

Potential 'catastrophic event' avoided by routine I-40 bridge inspection, officials say. Reopening timeline unclear

The I-40 bridge crack outside of Memphis has closed interstate and Mississippi River traffic and the timeline for reopening is unclear, officials said

www.commercialappeal.com

It's not a smooth level break tho. More detailed pics released today show one side has jumped outboard of the other as well as dropping down.

 

[JW IN VA]

NewsMax says river traffic moving

 

[greybeard]

Heads are rolling over failure to see the crack back in 2019.

At least one Arkansas official has been fired over this. The inspection department chief/lead field inspector.. The arrangement between Tenn and Arkansas is that Arkansas will conduct all annual inspections and Tenn will do the physical maintenance, with both states paying the costs.
It has come to light, that the damaged beam was there in some form of failure as far back as 2019 and the inspector didn't notice it and since was only discovered this year by a 3rd party commercial inspection team, it means the Arkansas inspector also missed it in 2020.


An inspector with the Arkansas Department of Transportation who twice failed to identify a crack in a bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee that prompted the bridge's closure last week has been fired, the department announced on Monday.

Though officials did not name the inspector, Rex Vines, deputy director and chief engineer of the Arkansas Department of Transportation, said at a news conference on Monday that "the same person was the team leader in both inspections" in 2019 and 2020.

"He didn't see it," Lorie Tudor, the department's director, said at the news conference. "But the reason he didn't see it is because he wasn't following proper protocol." The inspector was required to "literally go inch by inch along that beam and physically inspect every inch of the beam," she said, adding, "That did not happen."

The bridge deck and substructure are inspected every year by the Arkansas Department of Transportation, Dave Parker, a spokesman for the department, said. Additionally, the department hires a private contractor every two years to inspect the upper portion of the bridge, including its cables and higher extensions, Mr. Parker said.

The problem was spotted on May 11 by a private contractor during an inspection of the bridge, which reaches from downtown Memphis into Arkansas, the agency said. That contractor noticed a critical beam was fractured to the point of being nearly severed and called 911: "We need to get people off the bridge immediately!"

The bridge, also known as the Hernando de Soto Bridge, remains shut.

Drone footage in 2019 showed evidence of the crack on the bridge, which goes over the Mississippi River, meaning it had twice gone unreported by the staff inspector, the agency said.


The 2019 drone footage begins about 55 seconds in:
[YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

A different view of the crack today: