Waterway under vital Memphis bridge reopens to maritime traffic

The US Coast Guard said Friday that transit on the Mississippi River waterway under Interstate 40 bridge in Memphis has reopened after a crack forced the closure of the vital highway bridge.

Earlier Friday, the Coast Guard said more than 60 vessels with over 1,000 barges had been held up on the river.

An initial analysis of the bridge found it to be “stable,” and an independent firm took a second look on Friday before the reopening, Tennessee’s Chief Engineer Paul Degges said. Officials had said emergency repairs could take months and lead to delays in a major US shipping corridor.

“Based on information provided to us by the Tennessee Department of Transportation, the Coast Guard has determined that transit under the I-40 bridge is safe for maritime traffic,” Coast Guard Capt. Ryan Rhodes, Captain of the Port of Memphis, said in a statement.

“We appreciate the cooperative efforts of both the Tennessee and Arkansas Departments of Transportation, as well as maritime port partners, to ensure the safety of our waterway.”

The Hernando de Soto Bridge on Interstate 40 — a major artery for traffic crossing the Mississippi River between Memphis and eastern Arkansas — was shut down Tuesday for emergency repairs after transportation officials discovered the crack during a routine inspection.

The Coast Guard’s decision on reopening the passageway to barges was contingent on a final state DOT analysis.

The bridge closure highlights the nation’s crumbling infrastructure and President Joe Biden’s push for a $115 billion increase in spending to modernize bridges, highways, roads and main streets in need of repair.

The infrastructure plan, which must be approved by Congress, aims to fix the 10 most economically significant bridges in the country, as well as proposing repairs to 10,000 smaller bridges.

It’s possible the Hernando de Soto Bridge would be eligible for funding, but the White House’s plan lacks details on how the money would be disbursed. The administration has not identified which 10 bridges it deems most economically significant.

I-40 is a major transcontinental transportation route, Degges said. CNN affiliate WMC called the bridge a “vital piece of America’s infrastructure for moving traffic and freight around the country.”

According to the TDOT, the average daily traffic for the bridge is about 45,000 vehicles, with about 25% of that being truck traffic.

Drivers are being rerouted to Interstate 55, about 3 miles south, where another bridge spans the Mississippi River, causing major delays.

Degges sought to reassure the public about mounting concerns this week over the condition of the “old bridge” where I-40 traffic has been diverted, particularly the high volume of eighteen-wheelers.

“The wear and tear over that time would be infinitesimal,” Degges said.

“It will not measurably accelerate the deterioration of the bridge during the short duration” of heavier traffic, he added.

Tennessee shares responsibility for the bridge with the Arkansas Department of Transportation, which discovered the crack during a routine inspection and immediately shut down the bridge, the release said.

Degges described the crack as “very unusual.” He believes the crack was most likely caused by fatigue or a welding error when the bridge, designed in the 1960s, was originally constructed, but the state will conduct forensic analysis to discern the exact cause.

The bridge was opened in August 1973 with a price tag at that time of $57 million, WMC reported.

It’s unclear how long the crack has been there, but Degges believes it has probably been there for a couple weeks. He noted it was not present during a bridge inspection in September 2019.

Prices of corn and soybeans could rise

Soy Transportation Coalition Executive Director Mike Steenhoek told CNN the marine traffic shutdown was an “unwelcome” situation and, in the short term, prices of corn and soybeans could increase, especially south of Memphis.

If traffic along the river remained suspended, Steenhoek expected the industry to begin shifting to rail and to a lesser extent, trucks, to move product.

As for any grain stuck on barges, Steenhoek says there’s significant difficulty and expense in unloading and moving it to other types of transportation. “I expect the barges in the queue will wait — hoping traffic will resume in the near future,” he said.

The system has already been stressed by shifting buying and consumption habits, and a shutdown or delay can easily compound the challenges, he said.

At 48 years old, the Hernando de Soto Bridge is newer than the 72-year-old Memphis-Arkansas Bridge on I-55, where traffic is being diverted.