• Reporting Period July 20 - August 23 | Submitted September 1, 2024
• Reporting Period June 22 - July 19 | Submitted August 1, 2024
• Reporting Period May 25 - June 21 | Submitted July 1, 2024
• Reporting Period May 1 - May 24 | Submitted May 31, 2024

During work on a pre-existing $78-million project to rehabilitate the Washington Bridge westbound, RIDOT consultants identified a critical failure of some bridge components in a different area of the bridge. The components, called anchor rods, are part of the original bridge structure built in 1968 and provide counterbalance for a cantilevered bridge structure. RIDOT moved to close the bridge to all traffic for the safety of the motoring public.

RIDOT has seven engineering consulting firms working to determine how the bridge components failed and to provide recommendations on a course of action. The recommendations from these firms are due in late February / early March.

Whatever decision is made on the scope of the bridge rehabilitation, RIDOT will move quickly to advertise for a design-build contractor, which will provide the detailed information on the timeline to complete the bridge and restore traffic to the bridge. Companies competing for the design-build project will be directed to use accelerated bridge construction methods to reopen the bridge in as short a timeframe as possible.

In the initial week of the bridge closure, RIDOT moved quickly to install bypass lanes on I-195 to allow two lanes in each direction on the eastbound Washington Bridge, which is an entirely different structure from the westbound bridge. While this change helped to ease traffic, there are still considerable delay for motorists, especially during rush hour periods. Any crashes in the work zone can significantly increase the delays drivers experience on a regular basis. As announced on February 21, RIDOT will add a third travel lane for I-195 approach the bridge. Read more here.

RIDOT publishes travel tools on its website – www.washington-bridge.com – to help motorists plan alternate routes as needed. These include Travel Time Charts for nine travel routes, showing the additional time needed to cross the bridge at different hours on different days, compared to early December. RIDOT also has a real-time travel dashboard showing current estimated travel times for I-195 and a number of other travel routes.

RIDOT uses probe data, a measurement that tracks vehicles based on signals transmitted by cell phones. The data is provided to RIDOT as part of a service many other states subscribe to, provided by INRIX. This is same source of data travel apps like Google, Waze and Apple Maps use, as well as GPS companies. These already take travel time into account when display travel times.

The data provides information on the speed of the vehicles carrying those cell phones and the data is computed into travel time and displayed on the travel time dashboard. This data is refreshed every five minutes.

SBA Low interest Economic Injury Disaster Loans are available to eligible businesses in Providence, Kent, and Bristol counties, at interest rates of 4% for businesses and 2.375% for nonprofits. More information is available here: www.commerceri.com/emergency-assistance. Business owners also may choose to visit the Small Business Association’s Washington Bridge Business Recovery Center at East Providence City Hall, 145 Taunton Ave., East Providence.

No, work is continuing on all of RIDOT’s 62 other projects, which are largely on time and on budget. The Department publishes a detailed Quarterly Report on its website with budget and schedule information on all its projects at: www.ridot.net/accountability.

RIDOT continues to host weekly meeting with East Bay legislators to provide updates and answer questions about the Washington Bridge. Legislators have stated they welcome questions from constituents and will discuss them at these weekly meetings.