I -40 Hernando Desoto Bridge at Memphis shutdown

[edwaleni]

I then assume they will park a barge under the bridge and tie it down and place a long arm bucket crane underneath.

[MikieTimT]

I then assume they will park a barge under the bridge and tie it down and place a long arm bucket crane underneath.

Makes sense, as long as river flow conditions allow for it.  Since they closed lanes of traffic on the bridge yesterday, it's more likely that they just used a snooper this time.

[kalvado]

Biggest problem here, IMHO, is that a lot of post-WWII infrastructure hits 50 year mark, and starts to develop problems.
As blanket replacement is not possible, there should be a significant ramp up in inspections -and probably we should brace for such closures as suddenly discovered problems should become more of an issue.

[bwana39]

Hopefully this one gets done thoroughly, and hopefully there's not major issues that need uncovering this time!

Routine Bridge Inspection of the Interstate 40 Mississippi River Bridge

My thinking is this inspection will be anything other than ROUTINE.

I'd be interested to learn what they changed in their "routine" from the last time they did a "routine" inspection of the bridge.  There's a few more eyes on them this time around, so I'm sure there won't be missed fracture critical members going forward, at least for a while.  Seems like it'd be beneficial to use drones with appropriate imaging for the areas that the snoopers can't reach, or as a 2nd check of the areas that the snoopers can reach as a confirmation.

Rules say everything must be inspected by direct eye sight. Drone is not an acceptable alternative.
I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

They'd have to use something other than snooper trucks to get eyes on the areas like this fracture were as there are limitations to where the booms can swing.  So, hopefully, they've gotten more ways to get inspectors over the edge to get eyes on.  I'm sure they have made quite a few changes as a result of the proctological assessment they underwent that culminated in the Nov. 9 final report of the incident.  I know they've got to start using consultants on inspecting the Hopper Tunnel as they had the bridge inspection department inspecting that too, even though they lacked the appropriate electrical and mechanical engineering expertise to actually adequately do the job according to the final report.

Consultants were already inspecting the truss. It was a consultant employee who inadvertently spotted the fracture in the substructure.  I have to second guess ARDOT's no high level climbing edict if they are indeed going to inspect the bridge themselves.

[wriddle082]

Hopefully this one gets done thoroughly, and hopefully there's not major issues that need uncovering this time!

Routine Bridge Inspection of the Interstate 40 Mississippi River Bridge

My thinking is this inspection will be anything other than ROUTINE.

I'd be interested to learn what they changed in their "routine" from the last time they did a "routine" inspection of the bridge.  There's a few more eyes on them this time around, so I'm sure there won't be missed fracture critical members going forward, at least for a while.  Seems like it'd be beneficial to use drones with appropriate imaging for the areas that the snoopers can't reach, or as a 2nd check of the areas that the snoopers can reach as a confirmation.

Rules say everything must be inspected by direct eye sight. Drone is not an acceptable alternative.
I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. 

Can they use a boat or a barge on the river with a tall boom or lift, or would that be too unstable due to normal river currents?

[bwana39]

Hopefully this one gets done thoroughly, and hopefully there's not major issues that need uncovering this time!

Routine Bridge Inspection of the Interstate 40 Mississippi River Bridge

My thinking is this inspection will be anything other than ROUTINE.

I'd be interested to learn what they changed in their "routine" from the last time they did a "routine" inspection of the bridge.  There's a few more eyes on them this time around, so I'm sure there won't be missed fracture critical members going forward, at least for a while.  Seems like it'd be beneficial to use drones with appropriate imaging for the areas that the snoopers can't reach, or as a 2nd check of the areas that the snoopers can reach as a confirmation.

Rules say everything must be inspected by direct eye sight. Drone is not an acceptable alternative.
I am not sure if that is a good or bad thing. 

Can they use a boat or a barge on the river with a tall boom or lift, or would that be too unstable due to normal river currents?

They can get there by walking the steel. I am not suggesting free walking. I am talking about limited tethered walking. If ARDOT personnel cannot be trained to do it, then yes, hire a consultant who has the skills and training to do it. You could do it using a crane, but it would be significantly less expensive to have someone access it from the deck outside the snooper.

I am not sure there are not some snoopers with longer booms too.

[MikieTimT]

More inspections next week by contractors and ARDOT personnel on the bridge to evaluate the effectiveness of the repairs.  Here's hoping there's no drama this time around either.

Inspection of Interstate 40 Mississippi River Bridge to Cause Lane Closures

[MikieTimT]

More lane closures starting on the 14th and running nightly for a month to do the next phase of weld testing on the 5 spans on the Arkansas side of the arches.  Definitely going through the bridge with a fine-toothed comb.

Inspection of Interstate 40 Mississippi River Bridge to Cause Overnight Lane Closures

[Road Hog]

That's going to be a tough one just with truck traffic. I drove I-40 from Little Rock to Memphis and holy hell, it was bumper-to-bumper with just semis. Hardly a 4-wheeler to be seen other than my Tahoe.

[MikieTimT]

That's going to be a tough one just with truck traffic. I drove I-40 from Little Rock to Memphis and holy hell, it was bumper-to-bumper with just semis. Hardly a 4-wheeler to be seen other than my Tahoe.

I-40 between Little Rock and Memphis is a hellscape of rolling roadblocks being only a 4 lane rural Interstate still.  Here's a just a snip of the 2022 AADT of that stretch at around its midpoint around Hazen, which should alleviate the local traffic at West Memphis and Little Rock.  It's 38K now with 60% being truck traffic.

https://www.ardot.gov/wp-content/uploads/Prairie.pdf