Home Economy Federal highway administrator: Washington Bridge replacement could take 2 years

Federal highway administrator: Washington Bridge replacement could take 2 years

By

Christopher Allen

-

02/05/2024

thumbnail_IMG_1498 — U.S. FEDERAL HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR SHAILEN BHATT on Monday provided an update on his agency's coordination with the state regarding the Washington Bridge closure Pictured at right is East Providence Mayor Roberto DaSilva and U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I../ PBN PHOTO/ CHRIS ALLEN

PROVIDENCE – City and state officials on Monday gave a tour of the damage to the Washington Bridge to Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, who said afterwards that a complete tear-down and replacement could take up to two years to complete. As of now, whether that will need to happen remains unknown. “Safety is our

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PROVIDENCE – City and state officials on Monday gave a tour of the damage to the Washington Bridge to Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt, who said afterwards that a complete tear-down and replacement could take up to two years to complete. As of now, whether that will need to happen remains unknown. "Safety is our number one priority,” he said, adding that federal officials are “tracking closely as [the situation] has evolved from a rehab and repair to a potential replacement." Currently, there are now seven firms analyzing the bridge's condition, in addition to federal engineers and state agencies, Bhatt said. “There are three different bridges that are connected and so we are bringing in our national experts as well,” he said. “If it is a replacement [we are determining] what are the best possible options. It is a very complicated structure." Bhatt also said the agency is in talks with the state's congressional delegation over potential “innovative financing" schemes to supplement the costs, which are also still being determined. “My message to the people of Rhode Island is whether its federal, state or local agencies, we have everybody aligned here to get this bridge repaired or replaced as quickly as possible," he said. Asked if in his experience he has seen similar situations that involved a local inspection followed by a catastrophic failure, Bhatt said the administration is still collecting details through forensic analysis as to what led to the crisis but that the top priority is mitigating the traffic bottlenecks that are still vexing local businesses and residents more than eight weeks later. “Bridges across the country are in rough shape,” he said. “I'm glad that they closed it.” “There has to be a break at some point, did that break happen before or was it missed or did the break occur afterwards," he said. "We will determine that forensically afterwards, but right now we are focused on getting the bridge opened again.” Bhatt said he was spurred to visit the site firsthand when it became clear the almost century-old bridge may need to be completely rebuilt. Meanwhile, federal investigators at the U.S. Department of Justice are asking Gov. Daniel J McKee's administration for documents connected to the construction project dating back to 2016 under the administration of former Gov. Gina Raimondo. On Monday the R.I. Department of Transportation instituted a temporary traffic pattern while state lawmakers are preparing to hold oversight hearings sometime next week. McKee said the administration is also gathering data on what the average drive-time commutes are for motorists coming in and out of the capital city. "I'm very concerned with determining what the time frames are,” he said. In his first public criticism of RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr., McKee told WJAR on Feb. 1 that he had not been told that the bridge was closing until 15 minutes before it happened. "As soon as anybody knew, we should have known," he said. Bhatt said the federal agencies are simultaneously looking at the consequences to any future traffic pattern changes and the fallout from a large scale and costly transportation project. "When bridges close communities really feel the impact,” he said. “If this does turn out to be a long term closure and replacement, we are going to work to make sure we are able to mitigate those impacts as quickly as possible.” We are looking at every possible scenario to move traffic around," he added. "We want to make sure we are not routing them into city neighborhoods.”

(UPDATE: Adds why Bhatt came to Rhode Island to tour bridge in 11th paragraph)

Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.