Not a whole lot of road salting going on in Memphis.
ALERT Memphis bridge closed
- Thread starter catskinner
- Start date
Not a whole lot of road salting going on in Memphis.
bw
Fringe Ranger
No obvious corrosion, and the break isn't where water appears to run.
rob0126
Veteran Member
I first read your post as "...salt in the water."
My arms are getting to short to operate my phone.
Bridge over Mississippi river closed for repairs after inspectors discover major crack, river transport grinds to a halt
Tennessee officials have closed a bridge spanning the Mississippi River, after inspectors found a crack in its structure. The closure has delayed vital river traffic, and serves as a reminder of the US’ decaying infrastructure.
Built in the 1960s and reinforced in the last two decades, the Hernando de Soto Bridge carries Interstate 40 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee. As many as 50,000 vehicles, including more than 9,000 trucks, use the bridge every day, officials said.
However, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) shut the bridge down on Tuesday, after a routine inspection found a crack in its steel structure.
While road traffic was directed to cross the mighty Mississippi via the nearby Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, shipping on the river has been halted entirely “until further notice,” per a statement from TDOT on Tuesday afternoon.
TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges told reporters on Wednesday that it “could be months rather than weeks” before the bridge is repaired. The inspection that revealed the crack, performed every two years, is ongoing.
One crack in Memphis could have national implications. Tennessee is bordered by eight states, and more goods are moved by truck through Tennessee than through any other US state. Furthermore, 500 million tons of shipped goods – including petroleum, grain, iron and steel – are moved along the Mississippi River each year.
Reports in local media on Wednesday stated that several barges are already backed up on the river.
The crack is the latest infrastructural snafu to hit the US, days after a ransomware attack shut down a vital fuel pipeline along the east coast, and months after winter storms crippled Texas’ power grid.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 43% of US roadways are in “poor or mediocre condition,” and 46,154 bridges are “structurally deficient.” Aside from the most deficient cases, nearly 231,000 bridges in all 50 states are in need of repair and preservation work, a process that the ASCE estimates will take until 2071 at the current rate of investment.
President Joe Biden has promised to overhaul the US’ crumbling infrastructure with a $2.2 trillion spending bill. However, the bill only targets 10,000 bridges, plus the 10 “most economically significant large bridges” for repair, and would allocate just over $600 billion to physical infrastructure in general (or $115 billion if handouts to Amtrak, road safety initiatives, and other projects stretching the definition of ‘infrastructure’ are taken away), a far cry from the $2.6 trillion the ASCE says is needed.
www.rt.com
Tennessee officials have closed a bridge spanning the Mississippi River, after inspectors found a crack in its structure. The closure has delayed vital river traffic, and serves as a reminder of the US’ decaying infrastructure.
Built in the 1960s and reinforced in the last two decades, the Hernando de Soto Bridge carries Interstate 40 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee. As many as 50,000 vehicles, including more than 9,000 trucks, use the bridge every day, officials said.
However, the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) shut the bridge down on Tuesday, after a routine inspection found a crack in its steel structure.
While road traffic was directed to cross the mighty Mississippi via the nearby Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, shipping on the river has been halted entirely “until further notice,” per a statement from TDOT on Tuesday afternoon.
TDOT Chief Engineer Paul Degges told reporters on Wednesday that it “could be months rather than weeks” before the bridge is repaired. The inspection that revealed the crack, performed every two years, is ongoing.
One crack in Memphis could have national implications. Tennessee is bordered by eight states, and more goods are moved by truck through Tennessee than through any other US state. Furthermore, 500 million tons of shipped goods – including petroleum, grain, iron and steel – are moved along the Mississippi River each year.
Reports in local media on Wednesday stated that several barges are already backed up on the river.
The crack is the latest infrastructural snafu to hit the US, days after a ransomware attack shut down a vital fuel pipeline along the east coast, and months after winter storms crippled Texas’ power grid.
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, 43% of US roadways are in “poor or mediocre condition,” and 46,154 bridges are “structurally deficient.” Aside from the most deficient cases, nearly 231,000 bridges in all 50 states are in need of repair and preservation work, a process that the ASCE estimates will take until 2071 at the current rate of investment.
President Joe Biden has promised to overhaul the US’ crumbling infrastructure with a $2.2 trillion spending bill. However, the bill only targets 10,000 bridges, plus the 10 “most economically significant large bridges” for repair, and would allocate just over $600 billion to physical infrastructure in general (or $115 billion if handouts to Amtrak, road safety initiatives, and other projects stretching the definition of ‘infrastructure’ are taken away), a far cry from the $2.6 trillion the ASCE says is needed.
Bridge over Mississippi river closed for repairs after inspectors discover MAJOR CRACK, river transport grinds to a halt
Tennessee officials have closed a bridge spanning the Mississippi River, after inspectors found a crack in its structure. The closure has delayed vital river traffic, and serves as a reminder of the US’ decaying infrastructure.
Marie
Veteran Member
That is a bridge I could not use. Holy cow!I still don't like crossing that one or the old bridge in Webber's Falls.
Not as bad as the old I-10 bridges tho.
Especially the one at Lake Charles.
bw
Fringe Ranger
It's imposing seen from the end, but it's not that big a slope. No biggie.
Capt. Eddie
Veteran Member
That right there is a MUCH BIGGER PROBLEM than the road detour. If they keep the river closed you have just cut off the entire Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River drainage from the Gulf.
bw
Fringe Ranger
Ok, didn't bother me.
Wildweasel
F-4 Phantoms Phorever
Oscar Wilde
Membership Revoked
I'm not certain I understand your meanin here so if I've misunderstood your meanin, pardin ...
They ain't gonna block the river flow. Ain't no locks south of St. Louis, they just ain't allowin
no barge traffic, which don't make no sense in the conventional sense.
Now from the perspective of they tryin to bring us to our knees, perfect sense.
O.W.
Wildweasel
F-4 Phantoms Phorever
I still don't like crossing that one or the old bridge in Webber's Falls.
Not as bad as the old I-10 bridges tho.
Especially the one at Lake Charles.
I hated trucking across that bridge, especially in the rain. Bad enough in dry weather it was an ass-dragging climb to the top, in wet weather were dragging along and at each expansion joint the drive tires would slip on the wet pavement.
And the truck would sense that wheelspin and reduce power for several seconds to stop it. Very bad thing to do climbing that bridge. I had several occasions where I would crest the top at 15-20 mph because the truck kept reducing power when it was most needed.
bw
Fringe Ranger
The insurers will drop coverage if they go under the falling bridge. Big incentive, and easy to understand.
Oscar Wilde
Membership Revoked
Not saying that it won't but that bridge isn't coming down because of that break ....
O.W.
bw
Fringe Ranger
Totally beside the point, with respect to insurance. If the insurer says no go, that bridge might as well already be lying in the water.
psychgirl
Has No Life - Lives on TB
That’s gonna be a HARD NO.I still don't like crossing that one or the old bridge in Webber's Falls.
Not as bad as the old I-10 bridges tho.
Especially the one at Lake Charles.
Oscar Wilde
Membership Revoked
Sid Vicious
Veteran Member
20Gauge
TB Fanatic
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. Republican U.S. senators also pointed out the need for infrastructure spending while criticizing Biden’s plan.
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.
In this undated image released by the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows a crack is in a steel beam on the Interstate 40 bridge, near Memphis, Tenn. The Tennessee Department of Transportation says the crack is in a 900-foot steel beam that
Both states’ transportation agencies said they would make sure the 48-year-old, 1.8-mile (2.9-kilometer) 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-year-old Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) 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 tug boats hauling more than 220 barges were waiting in line Wednesday.
At least four tugs attached to barges sat idle Wednesday near a boat ramp at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the bridge.
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.
Road crews were poised to remove any cars that crash or otherwise become stuck on the four-lane I-55 bridge. The next nearest Mississippi River crossings are about 60 miles (96 kilometers) to the south near Lula, Mississippi, and 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the north near Dyersburg, Tennessee.
Inspectors were working to determine if the I-40 bridge could hold its own weight and the weight of construction crews, said Paul Degges, chief engineer for the Tennessee transportation department. Barge traffic will not resume until engineers decide that the bridge can stand on its own, he said.
Pinpointing those factors could take days, and the repairs could last much longer, Degges said.
"Certainly, it’s plausible that this could be months rather than weeks," Degges said during a news conference. "We are hopeful that we can find a solution that would allow us to proceed with some opening of traffic, but right now we just don’t know."
Tennessee Department of Transportation chief engineer Paul Degges, at podium, talks about a crack in the Interstate 40 bridge that connects Arkansas and Tennessee, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. The crack, found Tuesday, has forced the cl
Engineers were also investigating the cause of the crack. Fatigue of having tens of thousands of vehicles pass daily over the bridge could be a contributing factor, Degges said.
"It’s fortunate that routine inspection averted a potential disaster, but the state of our crumbling infrastructure is deeply troubling," said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat whose district includes Memphis.
Cohen said he would work in a bipartisan manner with the congressional delegations from Arkansas and Tennessee to make sure I-40 bridge improvements are included in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals.
Republicans in both states said the closure highlighted the need for infrastructure spending, but not Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan, which they’ve argued is far too sweeping in its definition of public works.
"This underscores exactly what I heard from Tennesseans last week on the topic of infrastructure: investing in hard infrastructure—roads and bridges—is exactly the type of investments taxpayers will see a return on and will support," U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty in Tennessee said.
Sen. John Boozman from Arkansas said he prefers a plan by GOP lawmakers that instead calls for spending $568 billion on infrastructure over five years.
"I think infrastructure is an urgent need. I don’t agree with the president’s plan at all," Boozman said.
In an inspection for the 2020 National Bridge Inventory report, the Federal Highway Administration said the I-40 bridge checked out in fair condition overall, with all primary structure elements sound and only some minor cracks and chips in the overall structure. Its structural evaluation checked out "somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is."
However, height and width clearances for oversize vehicles were "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action," the inspectors found. Tennessee recommended "bridge deck replacement with only incidental widening."
Arkansas transportation officials said the crack did not appear in the last inspection of the bridge, which occurred in September 2020.
The I-40 bridge, which opened in 1973, carried a 2020 average of 35,000 vehicles a day across the river, 29% of them trucks, according to the report. Degges said the average is closer to 50,000 vehicles a day, with about a quarter being trucks. Its traffic volume was expected to increase to 56,000 vehicles a day by 2040, the report said.
"I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom, but this is a pretty dire situation for the regional economy ... This is going to really create some potential problems for us," said Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, whose district includes the east Arkansas end of the bridge.
The span also has undergone about $280 million worth of retrofitting for the possibility of an earthquake.
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. Republican U.S. senators also pointed out the need for infrastructure spending while criticizing Biden’s plan.
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.
In this undated image released by the Tennessee Department of Transportation shows a crack is in a steel beam on the Interstate 40 bridge, near Memphis, Tenn. The Tennessee Department of Transportation says the crack is in a 900-foot steel beam that
Both states’ transportation agencies said they would make sure the 48-year-old, 1.8-mile (2.9-kilometer) 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-year-old Memphis & Arkansas Bridge, about 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) 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 tug boats hauling more than 220 barges were waiting in line Wednesday.
At least four tugs attached to barges sat idle Wednesday near a boat ramp at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the bridge.
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.
Road crews were poised to remove any cars that crash or otherwise become stuck on the four-lane I-55 bridge. The next nearest Mississippi River crossings are about 60 miles (96 kilometers) to the south near Lula, Mississippi, and 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the north near Dyersburg, Tennessee.
Inspectors were working to determine if the I-40 bridge could hold its own weight and the weight of construction crews, said Paul Degges, chief engineer for the Tennessee transportation department. Barge traffic will not resume until engineers decide that the bridge can stand on its own, he said.
Pinpointing those factors could take days, and the repairs could last much longer, Degges said.
"Certainly, it’s plausible that this could be months rather than weeks," Degges said during a news conference. "We are hopeful that we can find a solution that would allow us to proceed with some opening of traffic, but right now we just don’t know."
Tennessee Department of Transportation chief engineer Paul Degges, at podium, talks about a crack in the Interstate 40 bridge that connects Arkansas and Tennessee, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, in Memphis, Tenn. The crack, found Tuesday, has forced the cl
Engineers were also investigating the cause of the crack. Fatigue of having tens of thousands of vehicles pass daily over the bridge could be a contributing factor, Degges said.
"It’s fortunate that routine inspection averted a potential disaster, but the state of our crumbling infrastructure is deeply troubling," said U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat whose district includes Memphis.
Cohen said he would work in a bipartisan manner with the congressional delegations from Arkansas and Tennessee to make sure I-40 bridge improvements are included in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure proposals.
Republicans in both states said the closure highlighted the need for infrastructure spending, but not Biden’s $2.3 trillion plan, which they’ve argued is far too sweeping in its definition of public works.
"This underscores exactly what I heard from Tennesseans last week on the topic of infrastructure: investing in hard infrastructure—roads and bridges—is exactly the type of investments taxpayers will see a return on and will support," U.S. Sen. Bill Hagerty in Tennessee said.
Sen. John Boozman from Arkansas said he prefers a plan by GOP lawmakers that instead calls for spending $568 billion on infrastructure over five years.
"I think infrastructure is an urgent need. I don’t agree with the president’s plan at all," Boozman said.
In an inspection for the 2020 National Bridge Inventory report, the Federal Highway Administration said the I-40 bridge checked out in fair condition overall, with all primary structure elements sound and only some minor cracks and chips in the overall structure. Its structural evaluation checked out "somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is."
However, height and width clearances for oversize vehicles were "basically intolerable requiring high priority of corrective action," the inspectors found. Tennessee recommended "bridge deck replacement with only incidental widening."
Arkansas transportation officials said the crack did not appear in the last inspection of the bridge, which occurred in September 2020.
The I-40 bridge, which opened in 1973, carried a 2020 average of 35,000 vehicles a day across the river, 29% of them trucks, according to the report. Degges said the average is closer to 50,000 vehicles a day, with about a quarter being trucks. Its traffic volume was expected to increase to 56,000 vehicles a day by 2040, the report said.
"I’m not trying to be all doom and gloom, but this is a pretty dire situation for the regional economy ... This is going to really create some potential problems for us," said Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, whose district includes the east Arkansas end of the bridge.
The span also has undergone about $280 million worth of retrofitting for the possibility of an earthquake.
bw
Fringe Ranger
It's going to take some creative accounting and coordination, since Biden's infrastructure proposals don't have a category for transportation repairs or construction.
catskinner
Veteran Member
Local news played the audio from the 911 call that the inspector made. Sounded like he was still on site and to say that he was frantic would be an understatement.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Infrastructure like road and bridge repair is almost always put off by cities/counties/states/Feds because it isn't sexy, the money is "always" needed for something else and there is "never enough money."
Usually, when these projects are suggested, they get a lot of fanfare until the bids come in and the engineers realize that it is likely to cost 10 to 20 times the estimated amount to actually fix the situation.
With the exception of seriously high profile situations like this one, that tends to mean the project gets quietly buried and the money spent on something view as more "urgent" like paying salaries for local employees or a new city office building.
That is as true of "infrastructure" like computers and computer security as it is for potholes or indeed bridges that are not obviously likely to fall down tomorrow.
That is until there is a lightning strike on the computer center or a pipeline is shut down, then suddenly the issue is deemed important. But then the estimated bills come in to repair it, there's an election coming up and folks decide to "wait" until the "new" government is in, rinse repeat.
Not always but very very often.
Usually, when these projects are suggested, they get a lot of fanfare until the bids come in and the engineers realize that it is likely to cost 10 to 20 times the estimated amount to actually fix the situation.
With the exception of seriously high profile situations like this one, that tends to mean the project gets quietly buried and the money spent on something view as more "urgent" like paying salaries for local employees or a new city office building.
That is as true of "infrastructure" like computers and computer security as it is for potholes or indeed bridges that are not obviously likely to fall down tomorrow.
That is until there is a lightning strike on the computer center or a pipeline is shut down, then suddenly the issue is deemed important. But then the estimated bills come in to repair it, there's an election coming up and folks decide to "wait" until the "new" government is in, rinse repeat.
Not always but very very often.
they will create a virtual bridge to alleviate traffic.
they will ban interstate travel to alleviate traffic
they will ban cars to alleviate traffic
they will raise the price of gas to alleviate traffic
they will shout with one mighty voice the word "infrastructure" and pass an unfunded 8 trillion dollar highway package to alleviate traffic
they will ban interstate travel to alleviate traffic
they will ban cars to alleviate traffic
they will raise the price of gas to alleviate traffic
they will shout with one mighty voice the word "infrastructure" and pass an unfunded 8 trillion dollar highway package to alleviate traffic
Donghe Surfer
Veteran Member
This may be the worst part of it, if it continues........... (I bolded one sentence below.)
---
news.yahoo.com
om Polansek
Wed, May 12, 2021, 10:50 AM·2 min read
By Tom Polansek
(Reuters) -More than 400 barges were delayed on the lower Mississippi River on Wednesday after a bridge crack prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to halt vessel traffic on a portion of the waterway crucial for shipping crops to export markets.
The disruption hit as strong demand for U.S. corn and soybeans has tightened inventories and pushed crop prices to their highest in more than eight years. Also, U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking to have Congress approve a $2.25 trillion infrastructure bill.
The Coast Guard stopped all traffic on the Mississippi River near Memphis - between mile markers 736 and 737 - after a crack was discovered in the Hernando de Soto Bridge that spans the river, according to a statement.
There were 12 vessels with 157 barges in the queue to pass northbound and 16 vessels with 254 barges in the queue to go southbound, Lieutenant Mark Pipkin, a Coast Guard spokesman, told Reuters. The barges are carrying a mix of materials including crude oil and dry cargo like corn or rocks, he said.
Pipkin said it is not known when the river will reopen.
The bridge carries I-40 over the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee, to West Memphis, Arkansas.
Almost all grain barges must pass underneath the bridge on their way to Gulf of Mexico export facilities near New Orleans after being loaded along the upper Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois or Missouri rivers, according to the Soy Transportation Coalition, an agricultural industry group.
For the week ending May 1, 438 grain barges moved down river and 809 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
"Any suspension of traffic – even temporarily – on the Mississippi River is most unwelcome to U.S. agriculture," said Mike Steenhoek, the coalition's executive director.
"It is reasonable to assume hundreds of barges of U.S. grain will be negatively impacted by the closure depending on its duration."
(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Nakul Iyer and Arpan Varghese in BengaluruEditing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)
---
US Coast Guard shuts part of lower Mississippi River as bridge cracks
(Reuters) -More than 400 barges were delayed on the lower Mississippi River on Wednesday after a bridge crack prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to halt vessel traffic on a portion of the waterway crucial for shipping crops to export markets. Also, U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking to have...
om Polansek
Wed, May 12, 2021, 10:50 AM·2 min read
By Tom Polansek
(Reuters) -More than 400 barges were delayed on the lower Mississippi River on Wednesday after a bridge crack prompted the U.S. Coast Guard to halt vessel traffic on a portion of the waterway crucial for shipping crops to export markets.
The disruption hit as strong demand for U.S. corn and soybeans has tightened inventories and pushed crop prices to their highest in more than eight years. Also, U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking to have Congress approve a $2.25 trillion infrastructure bill.
The Coast Guard stopped all traffic on the Mississippi River near Memphis - between mile markers 736 and 737 - after a crack was discovered in the Hernando de Soto Bridge that spans the river, according to a statement.
There were 12 vessels with 157 barges in the queue to pass northbound and 16 vessels with 254 barges in the queue to go southbound, Lieutenant Mark Pipkin, a Coast Guard spokesman, told Reuters. The barges are carrying a mix of materials including crude oil and dry cargo like corn or rocks, he said.
Pipkin said it is not known when the river will reopen.
The bridge carries I-40 over the Mississippi River from Memphis, Tennessee, to West Memphis, Arkansas.
Almost all grain barges must pass underneath the bridge on their way to Gulf of Mexico export facilities near New Orleans after being loaded along the upper Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois or Missouri rivers, according to the Soy Transportation Coalition, an agricultural industry group.
For the week ending May 1, 438 grain barges moved down river and 809 grain barges unloaded in New Orleans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
"Any suspension of traffic – even temporarily – on the Mississippi River is most unwelcome to U.S. agriculture," said Mike Steenhoek, the coalition's executive director.
"It is reasonable to assume hundreds of barges of U.S. grain will be negatively impacted by the closure depending on its duration."
(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago and Nakul Iyer and Arpan Varghese in BengaluruEditing by Chris Reese and Grant McCool)
Bps1691
Veteran Member
This is two way traffic!
Everything north of Memphis that travels south by barge is stalled. This can back things up all the way to the sources in the Midwest heading south and anything coming up from the port of New Orleans gong north.
This could become a real constriction to the flow of goods.
U.S. Coast Guard stops vessel traffic on Mississippi River around damaged bridge at Memphis
U.S. Coast Guard stops vessel traffic on Mississippi River around damaged bridge at Memphis
Posted: May 12, 2021 / 02:08 PM CDT / Updated: May 12, 2021 / 04:38 PM CDT
A barge and boat wait between the two bridges that span the Mississippi River at Memphis on Wednesday.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The United States Coast Guard has issued a waterway restriction Wednesday on part of the Lower Mississippi River after a crack was discovered in the I-40/ Hernando Desoto Bridge.
All vessel traffic near the bridge was stopped between mile marker 736 and 737 until further notice. At least 16 vessels with a total of 229 barges are parked up and down the Mississippi River, the Coast Guard said.
TDOT: It’s unclear when I-40 bridge in Memphis will reopen
“The Coast Guard is currently working with Arkansas Department of Transportation, Tennessee Department of Transportation and river industry stakeholders on this developing situation,” said Capt. Ryan Rhodes, captain of the Port of Memphis. “Based on the current information available, we have closed a portion of the Lower Mississippi River out of an abundance of caution. The captain of the port is monitoring the situation and will continue to ensure the safety of the maritime environment and surrounding community.”
Mayor Strickland: Repairs for I-40 bridge could take months, not weeks
The Tennessee Department of Transportation said Wednesday that they are in the process of evaluating whether or not the bridge is stable enough to allow for barge traffic to continue. They couldn’t put a timetable on when that announcement will be made.
Everything north of Memphis that travels south by barge is stalled. This can back things up all the way to the sources in the Midwest heading south and anything coming up from the port of New Orleans gong north.
This could become a real constriction to the flow of goods.
U.S. Coast Guard stops vessel traffic on Mississippi River around damaged bridge at Memphis
U.S. Coast Guard stops vessel traffic on Mississippi River around damaged bridge at Memphis
Posted: May 12, 2021 / 02:08 PM CDT / Updated: May 12, 2021 / 04:38 PM CDT
A barge and boat wait between the two bridges that span the Mississippi River at Memphis on Wednesday.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The United States Coast Guard has issued a waterway restriction Wednesday on part of the Lower Mississippi River after a crack was discovered in the I-40/ Hernando Desoto Bridge.
All vessel traffic near the bridge was stopped between mile marker 736 and 737 until further notice. At least 16 vessels with a total of 229 barges are parked up and down the Mississippi River, the Coast Guard said.
TDOT: It’s unclear when I-40 bridge in Memphis will reopen
“The Coast Guard is currently working with Arkansas Department of Transportation, Tennessee Department of Transportation and river industry stakeholders on this developing situation,” said Capt. Ryan Rhodes, captain of the Port of Memphis. “Based on the current information available, we have closed a portion of the Lower Mississippi River out of an abundance of caution. The captain of the port is monitoring the situation and will continue to ensure the safety of the maritime environment and surrounding community.”
Mayor Strickland: Repairs for I-40 bridge could take months, not weeks
The Tennessee Department of Transportation said Wednesday that they are in the process of evaluating whether or not the bridge is stable enough to allow for barge traffic to continue. They couldn’t put a timetable on when that announcement will be made.
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catskinner
Veteran Member
Today they are inspecting the other Memphis bridge. Holding my breath on that.
The Hammer
Has No Life - Lives on TB
The Biden infrastructure plan...you won't get anywhere you need to go, but you'll like it!
Old Gringo
Senior Member
"they will shout with one mighty voice the word "infrastructure" and pass an unfunded 8 trillion dollar highway package to alleviate traffic"
Which will quietly be siphoned off for a bridge to nowhere.
i did not know that steel broke like that!!
kind of looks like the support pier to the right of the break "moved"
GingerN
Veteran Member
I am sure he was. If you are close enough to get local news, you know how much traffic goes across that bridge . Memphis and West Memphis are the distribution capitals of the country. This is liable to be a much bigger problem than just a bridge that may collapse.
I am so glad I don't have to go across that thing anymore. Hubby was a driver out of West Memphis and we lived in Brighton for years, so crossing that bridge was a regular occurrence, which scared me horribly every time. We also hauled across it to go to horse shows. I just closed my eyes and hung on.
GingerN
Veteran Member
Yeah, and that one is older than the I40 bridge.