Tennessee Governor Bill Lee used his Memphis trip to review work on the still-closed Hernando-DeSoto Bridge and to make couched, partisan swipes at Democrats.
In a statement issued before his scheduled press briefing here at 12:45 p.m., Lee took tame jabs at Congress, and President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan and American Jobs Plan. The statement was formally a call to “address the need for immediate federal action on infrastructure.”
“While Congress ponders the definition of infrastructure, we call upon the federal government to prioritize the safety of actual roads and bridges,” Lee said in the statement.
“While Congress ponders the definition of infrastructure, we call upon the federal government to prioritize the safety of actual roads and bridges.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee
The statement then notes that the American Rescue Plan gives $182 million to Shelby County and $161 million to the city of Memphis. But those funds “are expressly prohibited from being spent on road, highway, or bridge infrastructure.” Lee then claims the American Jobs Plan is “touted as an infrastructure plan” and would spend an estimated $2 trillion “with a mere 5.6 percent dedicated to roads and bridges.”
Lee finished the statement thanking the “state of Arkansas, the Coast Guard, and the Army Corps of Engineers” and said he looks “forward to meaningful action out of Congress to address the condition of our roads and bridges across the country.”
A contract for emergency bridge repair was awarded Monday to Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit Infrastructure Group. The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) said the “selection was based on qualifications, experience, and availability of personnel and equipment.”
“The contractor has joined the design discussion, and repair plans are being modified per their construction expertise,” reads an update from TDOT. “Once the plans are finalized, we expect a timeline for repair and reopening the bridge. Kiewit will be mobilizing its equipment to the project site starting Wednesday.”
TDOT said the plan will be performed in two phases and traffic will not be allowed on the bridge until they are both complete. Phase one will install fabricated steel plates on each side of the fractured piece to hold the heavy equipment necessary for the permanent repairs. Phase two will remove and replace the damaged piece.
