Maybe you have driven on the I-40 De Soto Bridge (aka M Bridge) over the Mississippi into Memphis and reveled in the glory of the giant pyramid that is a Bass Pro Shops (better or worse that the giant pyramid that is a casino? You be the judge.). Unfortunately, you won't be able to do this until at least July (but probably for a while after that). Why? Because on May 11th a contractor found a large crack in the bridge which resulted in it being closed down. Now the 40,000+ cars and trucks per day which usually cross the bridge are routed through West Memphis to the older I-55 bridge. Why did I take the time to write about this? Because on a recent road trip I was stuck in West Memphis for a few hours whilst on the detour to the I-55 bridge. It was not pleasant. I have another road trip (to Nashville) in the works and if the bridge isn't fixed I'll take an alternate route to avoid Memphis altogether. If you have road trip plans through Memphis, I recommend you take the possible 1-3 hour wait into consideration when planning your route.
You can visit the Wall Street Journal for more information about the bridge closure and its economic effects. Like many things in the past year, it hasn't been good for supply chains.
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