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peppertree

(21,530 posts)
Wed May 12, 2021, 01:30 PM May 2021

Crack closes interstate bridge between Arkansas & Tennessee

Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The Interstate 40 bridge linking Arkansas and Tennessee remained closed Wednesday after inspectors found a crack in the span, forcing thousands of trucks and cars to detour and shutting down shipping on the Mississippi River.

The bridge into Memphis was shut down Tuesday afternoon after the crack was discovered during a routine inspection.

Both states' transportation agencies said they would make sure the 48-year-old, 1.8-mile (2.9-kilometer) bridge is safe before reopening.

Read more: https://www.stltoday.com/news/national/crack-closes-interstate-bridge-between-arkansas-tennessee/article_bc3f51f4-d5c0-5b5f-900b-1161038117ea.html





Blocked onramp to the Hernando de Soto Bridge, seen from Memphis, TN, after a crack in the span forced the closure of the long under-maintained bridge, dating from 1973.

The "Pyramid," a former sports arena whose development was linked to the S&L scandal in the early 1990s, looms at right.
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Crack closes interstate bridge between Arkansas & Tennessee (Original Post) peppertree May 2021 OP
A billboard for the infrastructure bill. nt yaesu May 2021 #1
Or if you're a Republican, for ANOTHER tax cut for the rich peppertree May 2021 #4
Obviously, Biden broke the bridge to prove a point... Probatim May 2021 #2
I can hear it now: 'Crackgate' peppertree May 2021 #3
GOP will pray the crack away with tax cuts for the wealthy. Imallin4Joe May 2021 #5
It took me more than one article to find out Warpy May 2021 #6
After we get rid of places named for Confederates, we should look at Conquistadors. N/T OneCrazyDiamond May 2021 #7
+1 peppertree May 2021 #10
I was gonna say -- "Wait, did anyone ask Native Americans about this ?" nt eppur_se_muova May 2021 #26
Nothing to see here, no need for infrastructure howardmappel May 2021 #8
+1 peppertree May 2021 #11
Now THAT's a bus plunge! csziggy May 2021 #15
I recall that. It was in National Lampoon, if I recall correctly. NT mahatmakanejeeves May 2021 #18
Sure. Bus plunges are almost a fact of daily life in Peru and Bolivia. peppertree May 2021 #21
Neil Bush: Silverado ripoff cost taxpayers $1.6 billion Kid Berwyn May 2021 #9
And like Trump, he too benefited from a corrupt AG: peppertree May 2021 #12
Goes back to Nixon, Prescott Bush's chum. Kid Berwyn May 2021 #19
was not a crack ! whole box beam broke in 2 . slp -get it rite . saw pictures!! monkeyman1 May 2021 #13
Thank you. The media will often downplay these things. peppertree May 2021 #14
yepper ! sick of the media . monkeyman1 May 2021 #17
Video with image of broken beam csziggy May 2021 #16
Good God. peppertree May 2021 #20
Not even a beam, appears to be the tension member of a tied arch Strelnikov_ May 2021 #22
Nevertheless, the Arkansas and Tennessee Congressional delegations will vote against infrastructure. TomSlick May 2021 #23
Absolutely. They're all committed secessionists - theyd rather shoot their moms than help the nation peppertree May 2021 #24
it's easier just flip a damn coin ! monkeyman1 May 2021 #25
Just keep using it until it collapses. Only a couple of hundred people will die for the sake of the keithbvadu2 May 2021 #27

peppertree

(21,530 posts)
3. I can hear it now: 'Crackgate'
Wed May 12, 2021, 01:52 PM
May 2021

Right up there with Snowgate and Pizzagate.

Gotta hand it to Repugs: they have quite the imagination - but, alas, for all the wrong things.

Warpy

(110,913 posts)
6. It took me more than one article to find out
Wed May 12, 2021, 02:29 PM
May 2021

the crack is in one of the supporting trusses. No wonder the inspector was able to call 911 and get it shut quickly.

The I-55 bridge a mile south is so clogged with commuters and shipping, waits are at least an hour before traffic budges.

Considering how much shipping goes over I-40, this is going to leave a mark.

peppertree

(21,530 posts)
10. +1
Wed May 12, 2021, 05:00 PM
May 2021

Look no further than Latin America for proof of that.

In almost any of these countries, to be descended from a Conquistador, Adelantado or Viceroy puts at the top of the totem pole from birth.

Much like having a large slaveholder in your pedigree opens doors for you in the South.

They're usually above the law and - just as problematic - often run most mass media in these countries, thus having a major say on who can govern and who can't.

Yes, many in Latin America's upper class are from 19th/20th century immigrant stock (mainly Mediterranean) - but the people with Conquistador last names still usually get the last word.

howardmappel

(80 posts)
8. Nothing to see here, no need for infrastructure
Wed May 12, 2021, 03:49 PM
May 2021

Nothing to see here, all will be well, do you trust us or your lying eyes. Fucking rethuglicans.

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
15. Now THAT's a bus plunge!
Wed May 12, 2021, 07:05 PM
May 2021

For a while, I think it was back in the 1980s, there were a series of headlines about buses plunging off the sides of mountains, over cliffs, and so forth. I never understood why so many different sources used"plunge" for these accidents, but in my mind it was sort of a running sick joke.

It's still going on! From YouTube:

TOURIST BUS PLUNGES INTO THE INDIAN OCEAN

Dramatic video shows bus plunge off bridge

Bus plunges off cliff in Peru


And more. Yes, I know this is sort of sick, as I said, but the same words in headlines for over thirty years is bizarre.

peppertree

(21,530 posts)
21. Sure. Bus plunges are almost a fact of daily life in Peru and Bolivia.
Wed May 12, 2021, 09:20 PM
May 2021

Poorly-maintained, two-lane roads (if that) - and hairpin turns at high altitudes.

Kid Berwyn

(14,651 posts)
19. Goes back to Nixon, Prescott Bush's chum.
Wed May 12, 2021, 07:26 PM
May 2021


Sen. Prescott Bush’s son and grandson would “serve” as Presidents of the United States.



Richard Nixon's Greatest Cover-Up: His Ties to the Assassination of President Kennedy

Don Fulsom
Crime Magazine, Oct. 15, 2003 (updated March 22, 2009)

Excerpt...

As for Nixon's stated compassion for the Kennedys, let's not forget that he deeply despised them. So much so that, as president, he ordered chief White House spy E. Howard Hunt to forge diplomatic cables to make it look like President Kennedy ordered the murder of South Vietnamese leader Ngo Dinh Diem. He sent another spy, Anthony Ulasewicz, to Chappaquiddick, Mass., to investigate the 1969 crash of a car driven by Edward Kennedy that killed the senator's female companion. He placed Sen. Kennedy under a 24-hour-a-day Secret Service surveillance in an effort, in Nixon's phrase, "to catch him in the sack with one of his babes." And Nixon pressed aides to plant a false story in the press linking Sen. Kennedy to the 1972 assassination attempt against Alabama Gov. George Wallace.

Snip...

Back in the Eisenhower years, Vice President Richard Nixon and CIA agent E. Howard Hunt were principal secret planners of the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba that failed so miserably when it was later launched by President Kennedy. Some historians are convinced Nixon was a prime mover in an associated — and also ill-fated — plot to assassinate Fidel Castro. For example, onetime Nixon aide Roger Morris says Nixon "had been an avid supporter of the Eisenhower administration's covert operations to overthrow Castro, including the alliance with organized crime to assassinate the Cuban leader." For his part, Hunt has readily admitted his role in efforts to murder Castro.

For the "executive action" mission, potential assassins were recruited from Mafia ranks, so that if any of their activities were disclosed, organized crime could be blamed.

Nixon confidant Robert Maheu fronted for the CIA on the Mob plots. A high-end private eye (and ex-FBI undercover operative) who functioned in the shadowy realm between U.S. intelligence services and the national criminal syndicate, Maheu had performed previous "dirty tricks" for both Nixon and Giancana. Hoffa had also been a client of Maheu, who would eventually become the top aide to Mob-and CIA-connected billionaire and Nixon financial angel Howard Hughes.

Snip...

E. Howard Hunt, of course, went on to become President Nixon's chief dirty trickster and secret intelligence operative. In 1972, five Hunt-recruited former CIA men — all veterans of the Bay of Pigs invasion planning — were caught by police while burglarizing Democratic headquarters at the Watergate office building in Washington. Fearing that Hunt's role would soon be learned — and the burglary traced back to the White House —Nixon immediately set out to blackmail g an FBI investigation of the break-in. He had his chief of staff, Bob Haldeman, tell CIA Director Richard Helms that Hunt, if apprehended, might spill the beans about a major CIA secret. On one of the original Watergate tapes, the president rehearsed Haldeman on exactly what to tell the intelligence chief: "Hunt knows too damned much ... If this gets out that this is all involved ... it would make the CIA look bad, it's going to make Hunt look bad, and it's likely to blow the whole Bay of Pigs thing ... which we think would be very unfortunate for both the CIA and the country ... and for American foreign policy."

Continues...

http://www.crimemagazine.com/richard-nixons-greatest-cover-his-ties-assassination-president-kennedy



And the rich got richer. As for the rest of the nation, like Democracy, not so much.

peppertree

(21,530 posts)
14. Thank you. The media will often downplay these things.
Wed May 12, 2021, 06:50 PM
May 2021

While open hyping problems and/or scandals that can be used against Democrats.

csziggy

(34,120 posts)
16. Video with image of broken beam
Wed May 12, 2021, 07:10 PM
May 2021

As Monkyman1 said, it isn't a crack, it is a fractured beam. Go to 1:30 and at about 2:10 on the video to see a close-up:

peppertree

(21,530 posts)
20. Good God.
Wed May 12, 2021, 09:17 PM
May 2021

This is straight out of a Final Destination movie.

Thank you for finding this. Please consider posting this as a stand-alone video in Video/Multimedia.

Strelnikov_

(7,772 posts)
22. Not even a beam, appears to be the tension member of a tied arch
Wed May 12, 2021, 09:57 PM
May 2021

It is lucky this did not result in catastrophic failure.

Also, this member is known to be problematic in this type of bridge. The 'crack' was probably there for a while (look at the apparent corrosion along the failure plane). As a tax payer, my question is how was this defect missed in past inspections.

TomSlick

(11,035 posts)
23. Nevertheless, the Arkansas and Tennessee Congressional delegations will vote against infrastructure.
Wed May 12, 2021, 10:06 PM
May 2021

All Representatives and Senators from Arkansas are GQP.

Rep. Steve Cohen, a Democrat, is the Representative from Memphis. All the other Representatives and Senators from Tennessee are GQP.

That makes ONE vote from Arkansas and Tennessee that will vote for an infrastructure bill.

I will be interested to see how people from eastern Arkansas and Western Tennessee respond to the inevitable votes.

peppertree

(21,530 posts)
24. Absolutely. They're all committed secessionists - theyd rather shoot their moms than help the nation
Wed May 12, 2021, 10:26 PM
May 2021

I'd add only that Jim Cooper, from Nashville, is the other Democrat.

But that's 9.3 million people, with only two Dem representatives (out of 13 total).

keithbvadu2

(36,369 posts)
27. Just keep using it until it collapses. Only a couple of hundred people will die for the sake of the
Thu May 13, 2021, 12:11 AM
May 2021

Just keep using it until it collapses. Only a couple of hundred people will die for the sake of the economy.

???

GQP always has more thoughts and prayers.

Republican Lt. Gov. suggests elderly should be sacrificed to save the economy

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