Another Mississippi River Bridge Closed

Another Mississippi River Bridge Closed

27 August 2007 · No Comments

At least this closure is nowhere near as catastrophic as the one in Minneapolis. From the AP:

Officials shut down a major Mississippi River bridge Monday after one of its piers settled nearly 4 inches during the night in a construction zone.

The pier that settled is between two other piers, so the Interstate 40 bridge was still supported. The most motorists might have noticed on the six-lane span would have been a slight dip, officials said.

This would be the Hernando-Desoto bridge at Memphis, known for it’s signature lit “M”-shaped superstructre heading into downtown Memphis.

Given the amount of long-distance traffic that crosses the river at Memphis, and considering the nasty cloverleaf interchange at the foot of the I-55 bridge, this would seem to not be a fun day to be driving through Memphis.

Tags: Actuarial Musings · Bridges