Posted on 08/27/2007 10:29:10 AM PDT by blam
Miss. River Bridge Closed at Memphis
Published: 8/27/07, 1:06 PM EDT
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (AP) - Officials shut down a major Mississippi River bridge Monday after one of its piers settled nearly 4 inches during the night in a construction zone.
The pier that settled is between two other piers, so the Interstate 40 bridge was still supported. The most motorists might have noticed on the six-land span would have been a slight dip, officials said.
"We want to be proactive and take all the traffic off the bridge so that our inspectors can take a very thorough look at the structure before making any further decisions," said Paul Degges, chief engineer of the Tennessee Department of Transportation.
The bridge links West Memphis to Memphis, Tenn. Traffic was diverted to the nearby I-55 bridge crossing the river.
Earlier this month, the eight-lane I-35W bridge over the same river in Minnesota collapsed, killing 13 people. That bridge was undergoing repairs when it fell during the evening rush hour, dropping dozens of cars more than 60 feet into the Mississippi.
Highway officials said the Arkansas-Tennessee bridge's pier had settled 3.5 inches and the bridge would be closed at least into Tuesday. The six-lane span carries 35,600 vehicles a day. The I-55 bridge carries 44,700 vehicles per day.
Workers have been improving the I-40 bridge to make it safer in case of earthquakes. The New Madrid fault runs through the area.
"That is the area where they are doing the seismic retrofitting on the West Memphis side," said Glenn Bolick, a spokesman for the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, said of the pier that settled.
Arkansas State Police referred questions to highway officials.
Trapped inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues again.
This is the “M Bridge” or the Hernando de Soto Bridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hernando_de_Soto_Bridge
I lived in Memphis for a while. I’ve never liked this bridge, or the other one, the Memphis and Arkansas Bridge, very much.
If memory serves, both have been whacked by barges repeatedly, plus they often host traffic accidents. Truckers have been asking for a new bridge in the area for years.
Hmmm, I just drove over it August 1st...and was hearing about the Minnesota bridge collapse for the first time while doing so....
Bob? Is that you?
How safe are your bridges?
Get used to that question.
Just a slight dip:’)
Buy on the dips!
I think that’s the bridge we crossed when going to the dragstrip down there...hope they have it fixed soon!!
Nice Picture, thanks for postig.
My bet is that it has nothing to do with the main supports in the river shown there, but one of the dozens of smaller ones supporting the miles-long roadway over the low-land in Arkansas to the right of that picture...
Great, just great. I drove over that bridge twice this weekend...But I was driving to Memphis to visit a girl, so I guess my mind was on things other than dips in bridges...
The “new” bridge as the locals call it.
Yup. It’s older than I am, too.
Well - it IS. Besides, much easier than saying “Hernando DeSoto”...
Who is John Galt?
asking for a new bridge in the area
They’ll get one, soon enough. Just watch this develop into an excuse to build a monster bridge with a dozen lanes and rail.......the eastbound leg of NAU Superhighway must cross the Mississippi somewhere, and Memphis is an opportune place that heads toward the upper seaboard and the Northeast states. Maybe this bridge needs repair or even replacement.....but what an opportune time to declare it, eh? Connect the dots.
Sure.......Bluewater, the Ambassador and the tunnel are unsuitable for the crossing of the I-94 into Canada segment of the NAU Superhighway......*we*are*going*to*soon*have*a*12-lane plus rail structure connecting the monstrosity with 401 eastbound!
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