Cracking shuts down I-40 Mississippi River Bridge between Tennessee and Arkansas

Cracking shuts down I-40 Mississippi River Bridge between Tennessee and Arkansas tbruns Wed, 05/12/2021 - 14:19 Image: Trevor Birchett via Wikimedia Commons A routine bridge inspection of the I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge over the Mississippi River revealed a crack that requires further investigation, according to Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) officials. Contract crews will begin emergency repairs on the I-40 Mississippi River Bridge, which will be closed to all traffic until further notice while crews investigate the crack's extent further and then repair the problem, which could take some time. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) shares responsibility for the bridge with ARDOT.  TDOT said an ARDOT contractor uncovered a crack in the bottom side of the bridge truss during the inspection and immediately shut down the bridge. Detours are in place in Tennessee and Arkansas. Traffic is being rerouted in both directions to I-55 as an alternate route across the river. River traffic is also shut down until further notice. The 9,432-ft-long Hernando de Soto Bridge is a through arch bridge carrying I-40 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee. According to a report from Jalopnik, over 37,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day. ------------- SOURCE: Tennessee DOT / Arkansas DOT / Jalopnik IMAGE: Trevor Birchett via Wikimedia Commons
http://dlvr.it/RzVbCq