PROVIDENCE – Preliminary drone analysis suggests the fire that started on the iconic Crook Point Bascule Bridge earlier this week did not compromise the bridge’s structural integrity, the R.I. Department of Transportation said on Thursday.
RIDOT conducted a drone analysis of the towering, upright rail bridge on Wednesday to determine how, if at all, a June 29 fire on its upper ties damaged the aging, rusted structure. The drone images showed that the 113-year-old landmark is “intact and stable,” according to Lisbeth Pettengill, a spokeswoman for RIDOT. Drone footage identified some deteriorating wooden beams that have since been removed, Pettengill wrote in an email.
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A more thorough, physical examination of the damage by an outside engineering firm was slated to happen Thursday but postponed due to inclement weather. RIDOT does not expect to have data and analysis from those findings for several weeks, Pettengill wrote.
Whether the city of Providence can move ahead with plans to take ownership of the bridge and redesign it as a community space depends upon the structure’s condition. If RIDOT deems the structure unsafe, it will be demolished instead, it said previously.
In June, the city named Providence-firm Horsley Witten Group & Jonathan Harris the winner of a design competition for its plan to incorporate a boardwalk, a dock and a small event stage, and illuminated art on the raised bridge truss structure.
Once part of a rail line connected to the Providence terminal – originally for passengers and later for freight trains- the abandoned steel railway drawbridge has been suspended over the Seekonk River since the 1970s, PBN has reported.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
