PROVIDENCE – Aetna Bridge Co. on Friday was awarded a $45.8 million contract by the state to demolish the westbound side of the Washington Bridge.
According to an R.I. Department of Transportation memo obtained by Providence Business News, Warwick-based Aetna received the tentative contract to take down the Washington Bridge’s westbound side, which has been closed to traffic since December due to major structural deficiencies discovered by engineers. Aetna was given the contract, which still needs to be finalized, over Manafort Brothers Inc. of Cumberland, which put in a $43.8 million bid for the state contract.
The RIDOT memo states that Aetna Bridge would have demolition of the bridge’s westbound side completed by Jan. 29, 2025, 50 days ahead of the March 20, 2025, target date set by the state for demolition to be finished. Manafort’s proposal would have the demolition finished by March 7, 2025, the memo states, although items the state identified in Manafort’s proposal “decrease the probability of the team being able to achieve that date.”
Aetna also noted eight subcontractors to help with the demolition. Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. as lead designer, J.R. Vinagro as demolition subcontractor, Siefert Associates for construction engineering, Freeman Cos. for traffic engineering, Narragansett Engineering for surveying, Oliveira Infrastructure LLC for highway design support, Advocacy Solutions LLC for public outreach and Thielsch Engineering for construction quality control, are the subcontractors hired by Aetna for the project.
Additionally, according to a report from WPRI-TV CBS 12, RIDOT is currently soliciting bids for the estimated $368.3 million contract to design and build a new westbound bridge. Those bids are due July 3, according to the television station, with a tentative award expected to be made nine days later.
The abrupt closure of the bridge’s westbound side, which connects Interstate 195 from Rhode Island’s East Bay to Providence,
has disrupted traffic and businesses in the six months since. The state announced back in March that
the westbound side needed to be replaced, with Gov. Daniel J. McKee proclaiming a “day of reckoning” will come to hold those responsible for allowing the bridge to deteriorate to the point of near failure - such a “day of reckoning” has not yet arrived.
All lanes of traffic have been shifted to the bridge’s eastbound side.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
