Sinking bridge closes 50 miles of I-65 in Indiana

[Newsjock]

Source: USA Today

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — An I-65 bridge that dropped 9 inches last week while construction crews worked to widen it has closed 50 miles of a major artery between Indianapolis and Chicago.

And northbound traffic on Interstate 65 will have to take a 60-mile detour around the bridge over Wildcat Creek for the foreseeable future, Indiana Department of Transportation officials said. Traffic is being diverted from I-65 just north of Lebanon, Ind., to U.S. 52, then to Indiana 28 at Clarks Hill and to U.S. 231 at Romney.

"We would hesitate to give any kind of timeline at this time," state highway Commissioner Brandye Hendrickson said. "It will probably be later in the week before we really get our arms around some of the more viable solutions."

... A May 19 inspection rated the Wildcat Creek bridge's substructure, piers and abutments to be in poor condition but other parts of the bridge were considered fair and satisfactory, so it was not closed then.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2015/08/12/interstate-65-bridge-indiana/31556813/

[gratuitous]

1. Too bad we're still paying for Bush's wars

We could have some money available to get after these projects before they go completely kerflooey. The interstate bridge between Portland OR and Vancouver WA is in very bad shape after 90 years, but it's apparently going to have to fall into the Columbia River before some folks decide to address the situation.

[denbot]

2. Unloaded in Tipton IN this morning then headed north on the 65 to Chicago to reload.

Heard other truckers talking on the CB about it. I ended up exiting the I-65 back tracking to the I-74, headed all the way to state route 63 on the IN/IL line and am waiting in a dock to load frozen fried chicken to take back home to L.A.

Truckers reported that crossing the span over the highway caused the bridge to sway side to side close to a foot either way. Emergency crews were working on a fix when the bridge just plain sagged about 9" forcing them to cut Indiana's main north south route.

That just made my today just that more special..