As demolition continues for the Washington Bridge rebuild, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation told Equipment World frozen federal funding won’t delay the project.
RIDOT Chief of Public Affairs Charles St. Martin said, “Including the two federal grants, RIDOT has access to more than $700 million in funding from federal and state sources. This includes approval for up to $334.6 million in GARVEE borrowing. We believe it is likely that the federal grants pause will be settled prior to the start of the project.
“Part of federal funding we have allocated for this project is customary federal formula funds, which are not part of the grants and are unaffected.”
The westbound Washington Bridge on I-195 has been closed since December 2023 after a critical failure was discovered during reconstruction, including deep spall with exposed vertical and horizontal rebar and debounded rebar in several places. It was later determined the entire bridge needed to be replaced.
The Washington Bridge connects Providence and East Providence over the Seekonk River. It has 10 lanes and spans over 1,600 feet. The original bridge, built in 1930, was altered in 1968 and replaced by the partially closed twin-span bridge, which connects to several major highways nearby including I-95, I-295, US-6, RI-10, and RI-146.
Several executive actions from President Donald Trump in January caused confusion among construction organizations and states that receive federal funding, including from the bipartisan infrastructure law. Confusion was concerned with how sweeping the freeze was, with some contractor groups seeing it as geared mostly toward electric-vehicle infrastructure and not the entire infrastructure law, but other groups weren’t sure and have sought clarification.
St. Martin said the total cost for the bridge’s rebuild will be known on or before June 6 and that the project is still on schedule. Should any state funds ultimately be needed, RIDOT would not require approval from any state government bodies.
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Superstructure demolition on the Washington Bridge was wrapped up in late February and substructure demolition began in early March, with initial focus on the East Providence side of the river. Aetna Bridge Company won the $45 million contract for the westbound superstructure demolition last year, and local media reports said RIDOT later added the substructure demolition to that contract for $38 million.
Substructure demolition is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Any work underwater would not begin until July 1. All the demolition is fully funded with 80% federal and 20% state funds.