The Rhode Island Department of Transportation has awarded Walsh Construction Company a $427 million contract for building a new Washington Bridge in Providence, Rhode Island.
Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee said the cost of the new bridge, which is planned to last 100 years and designed for easier maintenance and inspection, was within budget. The bridge on I-195 has been closed since December 2023 due to safety concerns.
Work is set to begin in July with surveying, material ordering and the mobilization of workers, and the project is forecast to wrap up in November 2028. Current demolition is on schedule to finish at the end of 2025.
Walsh Construction bid the project at a hard cost of $339 million, which led to a final price tag of $427 million after other elements like inspections and incentives were considered. Around $10 million in incentives will be awarded if lanes are opened ahead of schedule, and Walsh will incur penalties of $25,000 per day if the project timeline is exceeded.
Rhode Island’s proactive funding strategy for the Washington Bridge will cover the entire build with no additional cost to taxpayers, the RIDOT says. Improvements on the new bridge compared to the old bridge include:
- Increasing the number of lanes to five.
- Adding a new on-ramp to I-195 West from Gano Street and a new off-ramp from I-195 West to Waterfront Drive.
- Reconfiguring lanes for I-195 West in East Providence to eliminate westbound traffic delays and adding a travel lane approaching the bridge.
- Widening I-195 from three to four lanes between the Broadway on-ramp and the bridge.
- Replacing the Potter Street overpass.
- Building the bridge on an entirely new substructure.
- Using fewer supporting piers by shortening the bridge’s footprint by over 450 feet.
The westbound Washington Bridge on I-195 has been closed since December 2023 due to safety concerns discovered during reconstruction, including deep spall with exposed vertical and horizontal rebar and debounded rebar in several places. At the time, the total cost for the reconstruction project was $78 million. In March 2024, it was confirmed the bridge could not be repaired and required replacement.
