FAST FACTS:
(Memphis 9/6/2010) David Dillingham drives a delivery truck every day from Memphis to West Memphis.
His route includes the Interstate 40 Bridge.
"Leaving at about noon or one it gets backed up pretty far, almost all the way down to that weigh station a couple miles," says Dillingham about traffic already on the bridge.
He's is wracking his brain, figuring out how he will manage the traffic.
"I'll probably have to get up about 30, 45 minutes early and test it out to see what's going to happen," added Dillingham.
TDOT says close to 50,000 cars cross the bridge daily.
Now all that traffic will have to pass over the Mississippi in 2 lanes for 71 days.
This is while the bridge is seismic retrofitted to withstand a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
The work is intentionally being done between the Labor Day and Thanksgiving Holidays.
TDOT is urging motorist to help them out during this period by taking the Interstate 55 Bridge. And avoiding morning and evening rush hour.
"If there is some way you can alter your driving patterns or work times and things like that as well, just to avoid peak hours," said TDOT Regional Director Chuck Rychen.
Judging from other phases of this project, TDOT expects this project to end on time.
"The contractor we have in place has worked hard to make sure all the materials are there. They just finished the phase one they finished it three days early, so my expectations are high that we will get done on time and hopefully early," added Rychen.
Starting in October, serious height and weight restrictions will limit oversized loads on the bridge.
This means, any over dimensional load will have to make an 85 mile detour to Dyer County to cross the Mississippi River.
- Starting Tuesday morning at 9 am, the Hernando Desoto Bridge will be reduced from 6 lanes to 2 lanes.
- The lanes closures are expected to last into November.
- For some, just thinking about the traffic is creating a headache.
(Memphis 9/6/2010) David Dillingham drives a delivery truck every day from Memphis to West Memphis.
His route includes the Interstate 40 Bridge.
"Leaving at about noon or one it gets backed up pretty far, almost all the way down to that weigh station a couple miles," says Dillingham about traffic already on the bridge.
He's is wracking his brain, figuring out how he will manage the traffic.
"I'll probably have to get up about 30, 45 minutes early and test it out to see what's going to happen," added Dillingham.
TDOT says close to 50,000 cars cross the bridge daily.
Now all that traffic will have to pass over the Mississippi in 2 lanes for 71 days.
This is while the bridge is seismic retrofitted to withstand a 7.7 magnitude earthquake.
The work is intentionally being done between the Labor Day and Thanksgiving Holidays.
TDOT is urging motorist to help them out during this period by taking the Interstate 55 Bridge. And avoiding morning and evening rush hour.
"If there is some way you can alter your driving patterns or work times and things like that as well, just to avoid peak hours," said TDOT Regional Director Chuck Rychen.
Judging from other phases of this project, TDOT expects this project to end on time.
"The contractor we have in place has worked hard to make sure all the materials are there. They just finished the phase one they finished it three days early, so my expectations are high that we will get done on time and hopefully early," added Rychen.
Starting in October, serious height and weight restrictions will limit oversized loads on the bridge.
This means, any over dimensional load will have to make an 85 mile detour to Dyer County to cross the Mississippi River.
