Arkansas and Tennessee are appealing for federal funding as they await cost estimates for repairing the damaged Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River.
Tennessee Commissioner of Transportation Clay Bright said the 3.3-mile Hernando de Soto Bridge could be closed for “several months, easily” but did not answer a question about cost at a Tuesday press conference in Memphis.
“We’ve had finance involved as far how can we procure these materials while still staying within the law but getting these materials to the job as soon as we can,” Bright said.
Engineering giant Kiewit Corp. arrived at the site Wednesday to install platforms for crews that will fix the bridge.
Tennessee DOT has the resources to get the repairs underway, said spokeswoman Nichole Lawrence.
"With a budget of about $2.3 billion, we are able to manage most disaster/emergency situations and make necessary reports to the Governor and General Assembly to ensure transparency," Lawrence said. "Snow, flooding, fires, and emergency bridge repairs among other disasters, are all part of managing the state highway system."
Traffic has been diverted to the Interstate 55 bridge while the I-40 bridge is closed. The next closet bridge spanning the Mississippi is more than 60 miles south.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee met in Memphis Tuesday to update actions on the bridge and to call for federal assistance.
“This is not just a state-to-state issue but a federal link that is important for our national security, whether it’s the flow of fuel or whether it’s the flow of other necessary items across our country,” Hutchinson said. “And so our federal partners are a big part of the equation and the solution for the future.”
The bridge closure comes as the Biden administration is making a major push for a $2 trillion infrastructure bill.
The span from West Memphis, Arkansas, to Memphis, Tennessee, has been closed since a crack was found during a routine inspection May 11.
Arkansas is responsible for inspecting the 48-year-old bridge while Tennessee is responsible for maintenance and repairs.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation said that an inspector who failed to report the crack when it first appeared in May 2019 has been fired.
Hutchinson said that Arkansas DOT is reviewing all of the inspectors other bridge reports to see if they are correct.
I-40 is a major artery through the center of the country with one of the highest truck traffic percentages in the United States.
Detours and delays due to the closure are expected cost the Arkansas trucking industry around $2.4 million per day, according to ARDOT.
“This is a critical, critical link for Arkansas,” Hutchinson said. "Whenever you see a break in the commerce, whenever you see a defect in a bridge, then you realize how dependent you are on that commerce. It certainly illustrates the importance of our infrastructure here in the United States, the investment in that’s needed.”
Lee and Hutchinson are both Republicans from states that heavily supported the re-election of Donald Trump as president last year. Lee, who had criticized Biden’s infrastructure plans, said he wanted more money specifically for roads and bridges.
“While Congress ponders the definition of infrastructure, we call upon the federal government to prioritize the safety of actual roads and bridges,” Lee said.
American Rescue Plan coronavirus relief funds are expressly prohibited from being spent on road, highway or bridge infrastructure, Lee said.
Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan would allocate an estimated $2 trillion for infrastructure, with 5.6% dedicated to roads and bridges. The plan would include $115 billion to modernize the bridges, highways, roads, and main streets that are in most critical need of repair.
For the DeSoto Bridge, crews are working on two plates that are 35 feet long to reinforce the fractured segment. Bright said that fabrication of the braces might be completed by the end of the week.
The DeSoto Bridge is at the southeastern edge of the New Madrid Seismic Zone, where three of the largest earthquakes in the Central United States occurred in the early 1800s. The two states’ transportation departments partnered in the early 1990s for a $268.4 million seismic retrofit of the bridge, a project that continued through 2015.
As part of the nine phases of construction, the deteriorated west approach was completely replaced with a new steel plate girder structure.
The work was to make the bridge be able to withstand a 7.7 magnitude earthquake and provide a "post-earthquake" lifeline link for emergency vehicles and the general public.
No modifications were made to the area where the fracture was found on May 11.
The Federal Highway Administration requires inspection of highway bridges every two years.
The DeSoto bridge's 2019 inspection rated the deck as "good," while the supporting structure's condition was rated "fair."
When the Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi collapsed in Minneapolis on Aug. 1, 2007, killing 13 people, Congress appropriated $250 million to build the new span. Then President George Bush signed the legislation nearly five months after the collapse. The new bridge opened 13 months after the collapse.
Arkansas and Tennessee have discussed building a third bridge in the Memphis area, but the governors said Tuesday that all of their focus now is getting the DeSoto Bridge repaired.
