A timeline for when the Interstate 40 bridge over the Mississippi River will reopen remains several weeks away, the Tennessee Department of Transportation said Wednesday.
The agency said last week that it "intended" to produce a schedule to reopen the Hernando de Soto span this week.
The bridge has been closed since May 11 -- more than three weeks -- after inspectors discovered a "significant fracture" in a load-bearing beam. The closure diverted thousands of daily commuters and truckers to the Interstate 55 bridge and other river crossings farther afield.
On Wednesday, the department announced the steps that need to be taken before a timeline can be developed.
Those steps include the contractor, Kiewit Infrastructure Group of Omaha, Neb., developing a schedule of repairs and the completion of a detailed inspection of the bridge focusing on welds similar to the one at the location of the fracture, the agency said in its daily update.
"We understand the desire for a projected opening date but must ensure all information is vetted before doing so," the update said. "Our consistent message, above all, is the safety of the public is paramount, and the priorities are to 1) open the river traffic, 2) open bridge traffic, and 3) look at the bridge for long-term issues related to the original failure."
The development came one day before U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to visit Memphis. A tour of the bridge is on his itinerary.
Shannon Newton, the president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, is among people scheduled to participate in a round-table discussion with Buttigieg this morning.
Newton hadn't seen Wednesday's update but said she continues to believe the bridge will be reopened later, not sooner.
"Based on the information that is available to me, I still think we are months away," Newton said. "I've said months all along. I still think that's the expectation we're trying to operate under."
Officials are being prudent in not making promises they may not be able to keep, she said. "They're trying to get to a timeline, but they also understand that there's a lot of responsibility with that once they share it. I would like for them to be confident in that before they started sharing it with everyone."
On Wednesday, Kiewit spent the day "preparing pricing for work and fabrication of materials needed" for Phase 2, or the permanent repairs, according to Wednesday's update.
Kiewit personnel worked 24 hours a day over a five-day period beginning May 21 to attach two fabricated steel plates weighing 9 tons to each side of the fractured beam to complete Phase 1 repairs, which were aimed at stabilizing the bridge to allow permanent repairs.
The inspection appears to be more intensive and will take longer than initially thought.
Inspections typically include examining the structure visually. But the ultrasonic testing on the welds will be able to reveal tiny cracks unseen by human eyes.
"This incredibly detailed inspection is expected to take several weeks to complete," according to the update.
Both the Tennessee and Arkansas transportation departments are monitoring ways to alleviate traffic congestion on the I-55 bridge. It is carrying about 67,000 vehicles daily, up from 40,000 that the bridge carried before the I-40 bridge closed.
Average peak travel times recorded last week included 65 minutes to 55 minutes to cross from Arkansas to Tennessee between 9 a.m. and 6 a.m. Traveling the opposite way took between 29 minutes and 25 minutes between noon and 5 p.m., according to the update.
"We continue to collect data and study ways to alleviate congestion and advance flow as all interstate traffic in the Memphis area is being diverted to I-55," the update said.
The Arkansas Transportation Department is expected to announce some traffic pattern changes on its side of the river as soon as today.
Newton said her association members, which include 300 trucking and service companies, "are still experiencing significant delays and are going to extraordinary measures to avoid crossing the bridge during peak times.
"I've had members shift their work schedules to avoid day-time travel, and other members are taking their trucks out of route in order to avoid sitting in the congestion."
The association estimated that closure of the bridge, part of a major freight corridor through the nation's midsection, is costing the trucking industry $2.4 million a day even with the slight improvement in delays, according to Newton.
"While the average travel time may be less than they were when the bridge was initially closed, our experience with regard to absorbing the costs of the bridge being out remains the same," she said.