Tennessee bridge inspector and team fail to notice big ass crack...fired, might be prosecuted

[Demovictory9]

In 2019 and 2020, the same inspector led teams checking the condition of a bridge that spans the Mississippi River, connecting Arkansas and Tennessee. Both times, the teams failed to notice a crack that has now shut down the bridge for repairs, the New York Times reports.

There's no mystery, Arkansas transportation officials said. "He didn't see it," said Lorie Tudor, the department's director. "But the reason he didn't see it is because he wasn’t following proper protocol." His job was to check "every inch of the beam,"

Tudor said. A reexamination of drone video footage showed the beam was cracking in May 2019, before that year's inspection. On Monday, the inspector, who'd been on the job for 15 years, was fired. The results of the state's investigation have been forwarded to federal officials for possible criminal prosecution, per the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

https://www.newser.com/story/306311/inspector-fired-for-cutting-corners-on-bridge-inspection.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=uol&utm_campaign=rss_top


The unidentified employee, who has worked at the department for approximately 15 years, was placed on leave Friday after a review last week of drone video from May 2019 confirmed the existence of the crack before the bridge superstructure and substructure inspections were conducted in September 2019 and September 2020.

He was fired on Monday morning after an investigation that lasted throughout the weekend, said Lorie Tudor, the department director. The preliminary results of the investigation, which is continuing, have been referred to federal authorities for potential criminal charges, she said.

"From our investigation, we have determined that the same employee who conducted the inspection in both 2019 and 2020 failed to carry out his responsibilities correctly," Tudor said at the briefing. "This is unacceptable and this employee has been terminated as of this morning."

https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/may/18/state-fires-inspector-over-i-40-bridge-crack/

[getagrip_already]

1. meh, a little duct tape, some tie wraps, and its good to go....

Why is everyone so cray-cray over a little crack?

{sarcasm for the humor impaired}

[Demovictory9]

11. Gorilla glue

[malaise]

2. Get thee to the greatest page

for visibility

[lpbk2713]

3. They were drinking beer and shooting pool that day.

Didn't have time for that silly ass "work" stuff.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. Makes you wonder how many of these guys haven't really

been inspecting these bridges at all.

[dalton99a]

5. +1

[crickets]

7. +2

[Demovictory9]

10. yep... that crack was hard to miss

[ProfessorGAC]

16. You Ain't Kidding

They could have seen that from a boat under the bridge.
That crack has got to be a quarter inch wide!

[FakeNoose]

6. The drone video shows that the crack is right at the AR/TN stateline

Watch when the drone videocam goes up over the people's heads. It shows the sign for entering Arkansas right at the same spot.

[JHB]

14. Well, y'see, that's a Tennessee crack, not an Arkansas crack

So it's not my problem.


(or the other way around. I'm not going to check)

[WarGamer]

8. From an old school ME, that's shocking.

[Demovictory9]

9. whats an "ME"?

[onethatcares]

12. mechanical engineering I think.

n/t

[Demovictory9]

13. ahh... thanks. ME would have noticed that crack and maybe told someone about it.

[WarGamer]

17. yup...

[ZonkerHarris]

15. I'm willing to bet zero Republicans from TN will support any infrastructure bill.

We will need to run on this big time in 22 and 24

[GulfCoast66]

18. He had one job...

You can tell by the rust around the edges this is not a new crack.

[Hekate]

19. Good gods, that is a very obvious crack

It’s just dumb luck nobody got killed.