The eastbound lanes of the Hernando de Soto bridge over the Mississippi River are scheduled to reopen tonight -- 81 days after the bridge was closed because of a crack in a metal beam.
The contractor -- Kiewit Corp. of Omaha, Neb. -- is ahead of schedule, according to an update Friday afternoon from the Tennessee Department of Transportation. On Wednesday, the Tennessee and Arkansas transportation agencies announced that the eastbound lanes would reopen by noon Monday.
The plan now is to reopen all three eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 over the bridge at 10 tonight, according to Friday's update.
"I'm going to be the first one to cross it," said Marco McClendon, the mayor of West Memphis. "I'm going to be in the city's Tahoe."
McClendon said he will be prepared.
"I'm going to have a life jacket in the car just in case," he said. "I've got some life jackets at home. I'm going to accidentally bring one with me."
McClendon said he'll have to return to West Memphis on the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge 3 miles to the south on Interstate 55 because the westbound lanes of the Hernando de Soto Bridge still will be closed.
All westbound lanes of the Hernando de Soto Bridge are scheduled to reopen Friday, but that could change, Nichole Lawrence, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee department, wrote in the update.
"It is possible the westbound lanes could reopen before Friday," she wrote. "Please note this schedule is barring any complications."
The bridge has been closed since a crack was found in a steel beam on May 11.
"It is great news that the bridge is being opened both safely and ahead of schedule," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson. "I applaud both the Arkansas and Tennessee departments of transportation for the transparent and professional way in which the bridge has been repaired. This gives the public confidence in safety and the economic boost is a welcome relief."
Cleanup underway
Cleanup of the eastbound lanes was underway Friday, wrote Lawrence. A Snooper truck was painting the westbound side, according to the update. Snooper trucks use a multijointed arm with a basket at the end to allow workers to get underneath a bridge while the truck is parked on the bridge deck.
Load testing was completed Wednesday, wrote Lawrence. The data collected will help rate the bridge's performance in the future but wasn't connected to the reopening of the span to traffic.
Built in 1973, the 3-mile-long Hernando de Soto Bridge between Memphis and West Memphis is part of a major freight corridor through the central U.S.
Since its closure, traffic has been routed to the 71-year-old Memphis and Arkansas bridge, about 3 miles to the south on Interstate 55.
The bridge closure cost the trucking industry more than $120 million, said Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association.
The Tennessee Transportation Department oversees repairs of the shared bridge, while the Arkansas department is responsible for inspections.
While the crack was discovered May 11, a photo from 2019, confirmed by transportation officials to be authentic, shows the crack has potentially been there for years.
Another photo appears to show a crack as far back as 2016, but the authenticity of that image remains under investigation.
The discovery led the Arkansas department to fire the inspection team leader for missing the crack during at least two previous inspections, which are conducted annually.