Washington Bridge rebuild will cost $427 million and take until 2028, McKee announces
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Rebuilding the westbound Washington Bridge is expected to cost $427 million and be completed by November 2028, Gov. Dan McKee announced Friday, delivering long-awaited news about the project.
McKee said the state has hired Walsh Construction Co. of Chicago to rebuild the heavily traveled bridge that abruptly closed to traffic in December 2023 after a structural failure. Walsh Construction won the contract after a lengthy competitive bidding saga that began just months after the bridge closed.
“I understand that this has been a challenging time for those who rely on the Washington Bridge, especially in the early days before we were able to restore six lanes of traffic,” McKee said at a State House news conference.
State officials initially estimated in early 2024 the bridge would cost between $250 million and $300 million, though they cautioned at the time those figures were highly preliminary. A later, more concrete estimate put the price tag at $368 million, making the new $427 million estimate a 16% increase.
The new timeline is also considerably longer than state officials’ earlier goal of having the new westbound bridge open by August 2026. Asked by a reporter if he took accountability for the inaccurate early estimates, McKee replied, “I think that we got it right.” He said they had tried to do the project faster but changed course when experts told them it wasn’t possible.
The rebuild contract is only one part of the overall cost of the Washington Bridge crisis. When demolition and emergency costs are added to the overall total, taxpayers are currently expected to pay $571 million for the infrastructure failure, according to a Target 12 analysis of state documents.
“The bridge is part of a major artery in Rhode Island that impacts thousands of people every day,” McKee added. “We owe it to you to deliver a bridge that is safe and will ultimately make your life easier.”
McKee and other administration officials emphasized that they have already identified over $700 million in funding sources to pay for all Washington Bridge costs, significantly more than they will need under their current estimates.
The funding sources break down as $335 million in borrowing against future federal transportation funding; $221 million in federal grants won last year; $108 million from the state’s cash account for capital projects; $35 million in redirected pandemic relief money; and $15 million from a prior bridge award.
More than 96,000 vehicles drove over the westbound I-195 bridge each day before the closure, according to the R.I. Department of Transportation. The state has since rerouted traffic on the eastbound Washington Bridge, a newer span, to go in both directions with additional lanes.
RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said the new bridge that is slated to open in 2028 has been designed to carry 80,000 vehicles every day for 100 years. (Alviti said he expected daily traffic to be lower than pre-closure levels because of the reopening of the Henderson Bridge, another connection between Providence and East Providence.)
State officials expressed enthusiasm about a number of the new bridge’s design elements.
It will have five lanes instead of four, and I-195 West in East Providence will be widened by removing a lane on the approach to the bridge. There will be a new on-ramp from Gano Street and a new off-ramp to Waterfront Drive. The new bridge will also be shorter than the old one, requiring fewer piers, and will be made to look similar to its predecessor.
Walsh is eligible for up to $10 million in incentive payments if the company can get the bridge done sooner than planned. On the flip-side, the company would face $25,000 a day in penalties if it fails to meet the timeline. Advance work will begin next month.
“We’re ready to build this bridge,” Alviti said.
(Story continues below video.)
While the old westbound bridge was initially expected to reopen within a few months after its closure, further inspections revealed it couldn’t be salvaged, and it is currently being demolished.
But the effort to engineer a quick process for constructing the new bridge failed last July when no companies bid, leading the McKee administration to regroup and change its approach.
The initial price tag for demolition was set at $40.5 million, but that cost quickly ballooned to nearly $100 million after the McKee administration decided to expand the project to include tearing down the bridge’s substructure.
Walsh Construction has built other bridges throughout New England, including the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial Bridge, also known as the Q Bridge, in New Haven, Connecticut. The company said it will model the new Washington Bridge on a project it is constructing over the Mississippi River, the Chain of Rocks Bridge .
The losing bidder, a joint venture between American Bridge Co. of Pennsylvania and MLJ Contracting Corp. of New York, will be paid $1.75 million as a consolation prize for participating in the process. Alviti praised their proposal, as well.
McKee and Alviti have repeatedly expressed confidence in the structural integrity of the eastbound bridge, which now has considerably more weight on it due to the added westbound vehicle traffic as well as temporary concrete barriers. Alviti said last year he still expects the eastbound bridge, built in the 2000s, to hold up for its full expected lifespan of 75 years.
Separately, the state has filed a lawsuit against various companies that worked on the bridge over the years. That litigation remains in the early stages.
Former CVS executive Helena Foulkes, who is preparing to challenge McKee again in next year’s Democratic primary for governor, criticized him over his handling of the bridge crisis.
“Governor McKee’s catastrophic failure to manage the Washington Bridge has impacted countless Rhode Island families and businesses, forcing them to endure longer commutes, lost wages, and economic hardship,” Foulkes said in a statement. “This isn’t just poor leadership; it’s a glaring symbol of the incompetence and neglect that has plagued our state for years.”
“Where is the oversight? Where is the accountability?” she added. “This bridge debacle is exactly why our state continues to fall behind while families and businesses pay the price for failed leadership.”
Eli Sherman ( esherman@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook .
Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi’s Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter , Bluesky and Facebook .
Alexandra Leslie ( aleslie@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook .
Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.
Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the new 12+ smart TV app .
Follow us on social media:
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WPRI.com.
Post a Comment