Mississippi River Traffic Resumes Under Damaged Bridge

Mississippi River Traffic Resumes Under Damaged Bridge
A boat hauling barges down the Mississippi River moves toward the Interstate 40 bridge linking Tennessee and Arkansas in Memphis, Tenn., on May 14, 2021. Adrian Sainz/AP Photo
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MEMPHIS, Tenn.—River traffic has reopened on the Mississippi River near Memphis, Tennessee, three days after it was closed when a crack was discovered in the Interstate 40 bridge that connects Tennessee and Arkansas, the U.S. Coast Guard said Friday.

The Arkansas Department of Transportation, meanwhile, said a video taken by an inspector two years ago found “significant rust and the beginning of a crack” in the same area as the fracture that prompted the bridge’s shutdown this week.