![]() There are lots of moving parts here & I will ensure the federal gov’t does its part to help RI.- Senator Jack Reed December 12, 2023 McKee, & RIDOT to accelerate repairs to the Washington Bridge. I will continue working with my colleagues in the delegation, the Biden Admin, Gov. “I think that we clearly are going to help the municipalities, if they have to put additional public safety on duty, to make sure that they control this travel situation,” McKee said. McKee said he viewed the damage on the bridge Tuesday morning. While he called the closure an “all hands on deck moment,” the governor said Tuesday he hadn’t yet decided whether “it makes sense” to call for a state of emergency. McKee said that he spoke with US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and that his administration contacted US Senator Jack Reed and the Federal Highway Administration about options for federal support. RIDOT has already started repair work on the westbound side, which is expected to take as much as three months. “There’s a sequence of analysis that has to take place before you make the decision to close a bridge to 90,000 people a day who use it,” Alviti said.Īlviti expects it’ll take about two weeks to open two temporary westbound lanes on the eastbound side of the bridge, which is a separate structure. Can’t wait to see what the inspection reports from July show… /LWUI9OA6BP- Amanda Milkovits December 13, 2023ĭuring a press conference at the Department of Transportation midday Tuesday, Alviti and Governor Daniel McKee defended the decision to wait several days before notifying local municipalities. Here’s a few photos of the damaged Washington Bridge, just from this weekend. There were gaps between the cantilever and beam seats, and “bouncing” during “live loads,” also known as traffic. The engineers found that several tiedown steel rods failed in different places. One was missing its middle, another had a gap big enough to easily fit a ruler. The engineers report, released by RIDOT late Tuesday, showed multiple pins were rusted, exposed, and broken. ![]() ![]() A checkpoint prevents other vehicles from using it. So on Tuesday, RIDOT opened a lane on the bridge for ambulances and police cruisers only. Alviti said when he received the engineers’ report on the severity of the bridge’s problems midday Monday, he notified the governor and the mayors of Providence and East Providence.Ĭritically, the closure shuts down access to the local hospitals, including Rhode Island Hospital, the only level 1 trauma center for southeastern New England. It wasn’t just motorists who were caught by surprise. In the next two to… /zH0r6Ikff2- RIDOTNews December 11, 2023 Initially, all the westbound lanes will be closed and traffic diverted to alternate routes. Due to the finding of a critical failure of some original 1960's bridge components, we will close the westbound side of the Washington Bridge.
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