Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge

The Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge is a 0.5-mile-long (0.80 km), steel stringer, multibeam bridge which carries Interstate 40 (I-40) across Kentucky Lake, part of the Tennessee River, in the western part of the U.S. state of Tennessee. The bridge also spans the boundaries between Benton and Humphreys counties and the western and middle parts of the state.

Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge
Coordinates	35.86791°N 87.94320°W
Carries	4 lanes of I-40
Crosses	Kentucky Lake, part of the Tennessee River
Locale	Humphreys and Benton counties, Tennessee
Characteristics
Design	Girder bridge
Total length	0.5 mi (0.80 km)
Width	89 ft (27 m)
History
Construction start	November 29, 1962
Construction end	July 21, 1965
Statistics
Daily traffic	33,317 (2018)[1]
Location

Description

The Jimmy Mann Evans Memorial Bridge carries four lanes of I-40 on a single span across the Kentucky Lake impoundment of the Tennessee River. This is the historical boundary between Middle and West Tennessee, as defined in the Tennessee State Constitution. West of the bridge is a causeway above a floodplain created by Kentucky Dam.[2]

History

Construction began on the bridge on November 29, 1962. The bridge was the largest project on I-40 between Memphis and Nashville. The bridge was completed on July 21, 1965. The entire project cost $4.62 million (equivalent to $29.2 million in 2019[3]).[2] The segment of I-40 between Memphis and Nashville, the first section of interstate completed between two major cities in Tennessee, was dedicated on July 24, 1966 in a ceremony officiated by then-governor Frank G. Clement on the bridge.[4] The bridge was renovated in 1992 and named after Jimmy Mann Evans who served as president of the Tennessee Road Builders Association and as commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) from 1987 until his death in 1992.[5]

The murder of Holly Bobo reportedly took place underneath the bridge in April 2011.[6]

See also

• List of crossings of the Tennessee River

References

1. Tennessee Department of Transportation. "Traffic History". ArcGIS. Esri. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
2. Tennessee Interstate: 1,049 Miles of Modern Highways to Serve the Motoring Public (PDF). tninterstate50.com (Pamphlet). Tennessee Department of Transportation. 1966. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2006. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
3. Thomas, Ryland; Williamson, Samuel H. (2020). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved September 22, 2020. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the Measuring Worth series.
4. Aden, Tom (July 24, 1966). "New Interstate Link Alters a Few Things". The Jackson Sun. Associated Press. p. 7. Retrieved April 12, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Experiencing the Issues from Both Sides" (PDF). Tennessee Road Builder. 17 (5): 16. September 2014. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
6. "Jason Autry testifies all day, explains how Zach Adams killed Holly Bobo". WMC-TV. Memphis, Tennessee. September 14, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2019.