There are 17 article(s) tagged 2021 bridge closing:
Strickland asked Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, in a letter dated Thursday, to list the bridge project as one of the state’s long-term infrastructure priorities. He cited the three-month shutdown last year of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge as well as the advanced age of other bridges at Memphis across the Mississippi River.
Leadership change comes as the Federal Highway Administration releases its assessment of Arkansas’ bridge inspection program, providing a list of 18 recommendations that hint at a variety of shortcomings.
Greater Memphis Chamber chief public policy officer Bobby White said planning construction could take a decade or more, most likely across the administrations of several presidents, governors and mayors.
Federal investigations are ongoing and concerns have been raised over the transportation agency’s lack of protocols and transparency.
The Hernando DeSoto Bridge reopened to all traffic — eastbound and westbound — 84 days after is was closed when Arkansas bridge inspectors noticed structural damage to a box beam on the north face of the span.
Eastbound traffic will resume by Monday, Aug. 2, and westbound lanes will reopen Friday, Aug. 6. Crews will continue some work on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge even after the span across the Mississippi River resumes.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation is expected to announce a more specific reopening schedule Wednesday, July 28.
The initial estimate was a late July reopening for the Hernando DeSoto Bridge. TDOT officials also upped the number of replacement plates to be installed aside from the damage that prompted the closing of the interstate bridge from 16 to 17.
More than two months have passed since Monty Frazier’s firing from the Arkansas Department of Transportation, and he’s kept quiet. But now, he’s ready to talk.
The Tennessee Department of Transportation originally identified nine spots beyond the damage spotted in May that shut down all traffic on the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, but that has increased to 16.
Updated with: Is there a dashboard to keep up with the bridge status?
A third bridge for vehicular traffic at Memphis isn’t at the top of everyone’s list, coming after broadband for Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland. Related story:
Two state legislators from Tennessee say planning needs to begin immediately for a third bridge in Shelby County crossing the Mississippi River.
The damage to the Hernando DeSoto Bridge is a timely opportunity to help enhance the inland waterways in the infrastructure jobs package released by the Biden administration that includes $17 billion for inland waterways, coastal ports, land ports of entry and ferries.
Acting Federal Highway Administrator Stephanie Pollock was in Memphis Thursday, May 20, to talk with local leaders and officials about repairs to the bridge.
Officials from Tennessee and Arkansas said they are working “around the clock” to repair the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, but it could take “several months easily.”
Drone footage shows the Hernando DeSoto Bridge may have been damaged since 2019.
About 17 results