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Officials Mull Interim Fixes for I-40 Bridge, River Reopened to Traffic

Tennessee Department of Transportation

Steel rods could be attached to the Hernando-DeSoto Bridge for a temporary repair that could reopen the bridge to vehicle traffic, transportation officials announced Friday afternoon. 

Officials with the The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) and the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) released some preliminary findings Friday after three days “of intense and thorough analysis.” These departments were joined by consultants Michael Baker Inc. and HNTB.

Officials found “there is no indication that the bridge is continuing to deteriorate.” With that, and an “extensive bridge modeling program,” the U.S. Coast Guard made the decision to reopen the river to traffic at 9 a.m. After public safety, river traffic was the group’s first priority, vehicle traffic was second, and third was reviewing the bridge for long-term issues related to the original failure.  

For now, “the design team is working on an interim repair design concept that contemplates using steel rods that would be attached to the bridge and span over the fractured section, and provide the needed strength to reopen the bridge to vehicular traffic.” That repair would allow time for a new bridge component to be built and replace the now-damaged 37-foot-long section. The team is also considering “the benefits of installing a steel plate to beef up the fractured section and thus increase our factor of safety for the existing configuration.”

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Want To See the Bridge “Crack?” TDOT Shares Images

Tennessee Department of Transportation
Nichole Lawrence/@NicLawrenceTDOT/Twitter

Tennessee Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nichole Lacey shared images of the break on the Hernando-DeSoto Bridge that will close the stretch of I-40 for weeks.

Nichole Lawrence/@NicLawrenceTDOT/Twitter
Nichole Lawrence/@NicLawrenceTDOT/Twitter
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The Cheat Sheet

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

A Memphis man calls the cops and tells them he was carjacked in a downtown parking lot. The police later find the car, and the driver tells them he didn’t steal it — the first guy loaned it to him. Turns out he’s telling the truth when the first guy ‘fesses up. Then both fellows admit they had been smoking crack all morning. Like we didn’t see that coming.

A controversy is brewing over Germantown’s official logo. The old version showed a horse and rider circled by a red “G.” The new version still has that “G” (green this time) but with an oak leaf above the words “Excellence. Every day.” We don’t know how much impact horses still have in a community that once had 15 mph speed-limit signs on Poplar for the four-legged creatures, but we do think the new logo looks like something you’d design for Vanderbilt.

The Memphis Zoo has asked Greg Cravens

Memphians to send get-well cards to their polar bear, Cranbeary, who broke a leg after tumbling into the deep moat in front of her compound. Zoo visitors say the female bear was pushed over the edge by her male companion during some roughhousing. We’ve had some dates that have ended up pretty much the same way.

Because of some unfortunate racial incidents, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is no longer an “official” fraternity at the University of Memphis and will not be “recognized” by the school for at least one year. We suppose that means SAE won’t be included in the school yearbooks, but since parties and other activities can continue at the fraternity’s privately owned house, we really can’t see how this will affect very much. If anything, the parties might be wilder than ever.