Transportation officials in Arkansas and Tennessee say “a catastrophic event” was averted with the discovery of a fractured steel beam in the I-40 Mississippi River Bridge in Memphis. But it could be months before the busy mile-long crossing is fully repaired and reopened to traffic.

裂缝两种焊接24到32。900 - ft-long continuous beams that form one of the bridge’s two tied-arch truss navigation spans was discovered May 11 during a scheduled annual inspection of the nearly 50-year-old crossing, also known as the Hernando De Soto Bridge. According to the Arkansas Dept. of Transportation, which shares the cost of operating the bridge with Tennessee’s DOT, the “fatigue-type fracture” likely resulted from decades of constant traffic movement, rather than a vessel impact or weather-related cause.

阿多特官员说，在去年9月完成的桥梁的最新检查中，裂缝没有出现。发现裂缝后，点立即关闭了通往车辆的桥梁，而美国海岸警卫队则暂时停止了密西西比河下游的驳船交通。

TDOT报告说，三个梁的板隔开了一英寸，而第四板的破裂则超过50％。到目前为止，检查员还没有发现任何其他结构性问题的证据。一项全面的地震改造，于2011年完成，主要集中在桥梁基础和其他元素上。Ardot说，在该项目期间，发生裂缝的光束没有修改，因为它不容易受到地震事件的载荷。

As the agency responsible for the bridge’s routine and special inspections, ARDOT has retained forensic experts from HNTB to perform a complete diagnostic evaluation of the entire structure, which carries an average of 41,000 vehicles per day between the two states. While highway traffic between Arkansas and Tennessee has other options for crossing the Mississippi River, the closure is estimated to have idled more than 200 commercial vessels along the waterway.

“We’re hopeful short- and long-term solutions will be made available,” ARDOT Director Lorie Tudor said during a Wednesday press briefing. She added that Federal Highway Administration officials have assured her that federal funding will be available for the repairs, which TDOT will carry out.

根据TDOT副专员兼首席工程师Paul Degges的说法，维修计划将根据该机构与Michael Baker International的呼叫设计合同制定，该合同进行了确定裂缝的结构检查。然后，TDOT将使用各州的紧急承包程序采购承包商。

“Since we do not have a design, we do not have the details for the contracting component as of yet,” Degges says, adding that the process could take several months to unfold.

ARDOT Assistant Chief Engineer of Operations Steve Frisbee said that while the simplest repair method would be to weld the fissure and add reinforcement plates, “this crack is pretty significant.” He added that the crack’s location approximately 110 ft above the river “makes it a challenge to repair.”