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The I-40 Hernando de Soto Bridge crossing the Mississippi River

connecting Arkansas and Tennessee on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.
The bridge has been closed since inspectors found a fracture in
the bridge. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Thomas Metthe)

The significant fracture that forced the closing of the Interstate 40

bridge over the Mississippi River on May 11 occurred on a steel
beam that was made of a grade of steel that the Federal Highway
Administration concluded was susceptible to cracks.

The conclusion resulted in the 2011 closing of the Sherman Minton

Bridge on Interstate 64 over the Ohio River between Louisville,
Ky., and New Albany, Ind., and a technical advisory the same year
to all state transportation agencies operating and maintaining
fracture critical bridges, of which the I-40 bridge is one. Fracture
critical bridges have steel elements subject to tension whose
failure would probably cause a portion of or the entire bridge to
collapse.

[What do you want to know about the I-40 bridge closure? Ask
your questions here » arkansasonline.com/bridgequestions]

The Arkansas Department of Transportation has acknowledged

that parts of the I-40 bridge contained a grade of steel commonly
known as T-1 and that, in response to the technical advisory, it
developed a special inspection procedure for the bridge.

However, it isn't clear whether the significant fracture that caused

the bridge to be closed was because the steel was susceptible to
cracking.

"The fracture is more than the cracking discussed in the advisory,"

agency spokesman Dave Parker said. "Forensic testing will be
required to give additional information about the area."

The development comes as the Arkansas Highway Commission

convenes for the first time since the bridge was closed.

The five-member body is scheduled to receive a status report on

the bridge today and will consider the department's operating
budget for fiscal 2022, which begins July 1. Lorie Tudor, the
agency's director, has said it probably will include adjustments to
bolster bridge inspections.

An agency employee was fired after it was discovered the heavy

bridge inspection team he led didn't properly inspect the bridge in
two successive years and overlooked the fracture, which called the
department's bridge inspection policies and procedures into
question.

The I-40 bridge closing has diverted traffic to the adjoining and
older Interstate 55 bridge, which has created long delays crossing
the Mississippi River. About 30% of the traffic on both bridges was
trucks, creating logistical problems that the industry estimates is
costing it $2.4 million per day.

An inspection team from the civil engineering firm Michael Baker

International discovered the fracture by chance May 11. The
department hired the firm to inspect the suspension cable portion
of the bridge. The Michael Baker team also will resume its
inspection, said Rex Vines, chief engineer for the Arkansas
Department of Transportation.

Michael Baker International also is conducting an in-depth

inspection of the bridge using ultrasonic testing, a process that will
take several weeks.

In an update posted Monday afternoon, the Tennessee

Department of Transportation said the inspection is continuing.

"So far, there is nothing of concern," the update said. "However, if

any issues are found during the repairs, it could affect the bridge's
opening date."

The Sherman Minton Bridge episode might prove instructive. It

was ordered closed Sept. 9, 2011, after cracks were found in its
main load-bearing structural element. The crack was repaired by
Sept. 23, but an inspection of the rest of the bridge uncovered
additional cracks. The repairs cost $20 million. The bridge
reopened Feb. 17, 2012.

The Federal Highway Administration issued its technical advisory

two days after the Sherman Minton Bridge was closed. It blamed
the cracks on improper fabrication procedures as well as the grade
of steel used.

"Several cracks were found in the butt welds or their associated

heat-affected zones of the tension ties of both spans," the advisory
said. "It was subsequently determined that the cracking was very
likely caused by hydrogen that was introduced into the weld as the
result of improper fabrication procedures. T-1 steel is known to be
very susceptible to this type of cracking."

Gary Prinz, a civil engineering professor at the University of

Arkansas who specializes in fractures and fatigue in metals, has
said the fracture on the I-40 bridge appeared to be at a weld.

The advisory "strongly recommended" that all state transportation

agencies review the inspection records of the fracture critical
bridges in their inventory to "ensure any components fabricated
with T-1 steel have been regularly and appropriately inspected and
that any critical findings have been properly identified and
addressed."

The advisory said that if any deficiencies were found, the state
agencies were to follow up and place "priority on inspection or
remediation of components primarily in tension such as arch ties,
hangers or truss members that contain butt welds."

A butt weld, the most common type of joint used in the fabrication
of structures and piping systems, is a weld between two pieces of
metal butted together with the abutted ends shortened and
thickened and fused together under heat.

The federal agency also recommended that on fracture critical

bridges using T-1 steel "prior to the adoption of the Fracture
Control Plan of the ... Bridge Welding Code, where cracks due to a
lack of hydrogen control during welding have previously been
found, that the soundness of all butt welds in those tension
components be verified through visual and non-destructive testing
unless this verification has previously been conducted."

The Fracture Control Plan was initiated by the American

Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials in the
late 1970s. The plan included requirements for stronger steel and,
according to the industry, resulted in fracture critical members that
are much stronger than those made before the mid-1970s.

Construction began on the the 3.3-mile I-40 bridge connecting

West Memphis and Memphis in the late 1960s. It opened in 1973,
well before adoption of the Fracture Control Plan.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation developed a special

inspection procedure for the I-40 bridge that has been in place
since May 2012.

The plan noted some similarities between the I-40 bridge and the
Interstate 24 bridge over the Ohio River between Kentucky and
Illinois. In 1979, the latter bridge was closed because of cracks
found in the main members and tie girders of the tied arch span,
according to the document.

According to published reports, structural problems on the Ohio

River Bridge included 119 cracks as a result of defective welding,
and the bridge was closed from August 1979 through October
1980. It was closed to truck traffic until the summer of 1981.

"An electro slag welding process was used during construction of

this bridge," the plan said. "The I-40 Mississippi River bridge was
constructed with the same process."

The Federal Highway Administration banned that welding process

in 1977 for many applications under its jurisdiction, including
bridge fabrication. The ban was lifted in 2000 after research from
universities and industry produced a replacement called "Narrow
Gap Improved Electro Slag Welding."

The I-40 bridge underwent a nondestructive examination of its

welds in 1982. The Tennessee Transportation Department retained
an outside engineering firm in 2010 to "clean and inspect the
upper members of tied arch truss," according to the inspection
procedure document.

During the annual inspection, areas of the bridge inspected are

"mostly limited to only the tension steel members whose failure
might result in the collapse of the bridge," according to the
document.

Those include the arch truss tie cord, which will be "accessed by
an optical scope through drain holes to determine if any access
seal plates should be removed for closer inspection," the
document stated. Further, one access seal plate eastbound and
one westbound will be opened for "closer inspection on a 24-
month frequency."

Also during the annual inspection, "the top chord of the arch span
shall be walked and all members [tension and compression] of the
upper truss will be visually inspected," the document said.
Starting in 2012, the Arkansas Transportation Department secured
the services of an outside engineering firm to provide a "hands-on"
inspection of the tied arch truss members above the roadway
every two years "or until a catwalk is installed to provide access for
AHTD bridge inspectors."