Silver Creek Bridge Replacement

The Project

After many meetings with the local community, RIDOT developed a way to replace this bridge as quickly as possible and with minimum negative impact on the residents, businesses and commuters in the Bristol area. Following initial utility work, RIDOT resumed construction immediately after July 4 and kept at least one lane of the bridge open to traffic throughout the entire construction season, with southbound traffic permitted on the bridge and northbound traffic detoured. This eliminated the need to close the bridge entirely.

RIDOT resumed the seasonal ferry service to Bristol to help alleviate travel difficulties. The Department also offered incentives to the contractor for an earlier completion of the bridge work.

Other options such as building a temporary bridge for the original eight-week closure period and then tearing it down, or using the bike path bridge adjacent to the project, were determined to be too costly, too disruptive to an adjacent business, and would cause delays in project scheduling due to environmental permitting issues.

Project Schedule & Cost

  • Location: Bristol
  • Start Construction: 2019
  • Finish Construction: 2020
  • Total Projected Cost: $5.5 Million
  • Detours Needed: Yes