by George Jared (gjared@talkbusiness.net)
Officials still are unsure when repairs to the Interstate 40 bridge will be complete, and it will not be reopened to even partial traffic until finished. Tennessee Department of Transportation Community Relations Officer Nicole Lawrence told Talk Business & Politics there have been no significant issues in repairing the fractured beam that closed the bridge in early May.
When the I-40 bridge, the busiest freight carrying bridge in the U.S., was shut down May 11 after a fracture was discovered in a primary support beam, the flow of goods came to a standstill. Traffic was choked on I-55 in the weeks after the closure and it led to long wait times for motorists and big trucks carrying goods.
The trucking industry has absorbed over $70 million in unanticipated costs since the closure, according to the Arkansas Trucking Association. However, the latest data on traffic congestion suggests that the average cost to the trucking industry has reduced from an estimated $2.4 million to $936,000 a day.
(photo courtesy of ArDOT)