RIDOT wants to know why no one filed a bid to rebuild Washington Bridge

Interstate-195 westbound traffic slows in the converted lane on the eastbound side of the Washington Bridge at 5:19 p.m. on Friday, July 19, 2024. (Rhode Island Department of Transportation Traffic Camera)

State transportation officials hit two milestones last week in the continuing saga that is the replacement of the westbound Washington Bridge. They are scheduled to hit another one Monday afternoon when Gov. Dan McKee’s administration will likely get the OK to borrow $140 million to help cover project costs.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) on Friday issued a request for information on rebuilding the bridge connecting East Providence and Providence via Interstate 195. The solicitation aims to collect feedback from construction firms that declined to respond when the state put the contract to replace the bridge out to bid between late April and early July.

This new solicitation came three days after RIDOT officially awarded Warwick-based Aetna Bridge Co a $45.8 million contract to demolish the shuttered highway over the Seekonk River, a process that won’t likely start until September.

The western side of the Washington Bridge was abruptly closed last December after engineers discovered broken anchor rods that put the westbound section highway at risk of collapse. At the time, the state said the span carried approximately 96,000 vehicles a day.

RIDOT spokesperson Charles St. Martin said the information gathered from this latest search process will inform the next request for proposals, or RFP. Firms who want to share their thoughts on the bridge reconstruction must submit them by noon, Friday, Aug. 2.

What was so wrong with the last RFP?

RIDOT had contacted 2,100 construction companies in its initial RFP, with 67 viewing the solicitation and only one asking questions ahead of the July 3 bid deadline. The unnamed vendor asked RIDOT to shorten the timeframe to review designs and wanted the state to confirm whether the design-build team would be allowed a time extension in the event of a delay.

RIDOT’s request for information suggests that department officials understand their original RFP was too aggressive in scope. Questions include:

• What aspects of the proposal did you find most attractive?
• Was the time provided in the RFP for the various procurement milestones a significant consideration in your decision not to bid?
• Was the time provided in the RFP for construction completion a significant consideration in your decision not to bid?
• Were any items included within the scope of work or base technical concept for the project considered to be too high risk?

RIDOT said it will make the names of vendors submitting responses public but not the content of their responses.

The state had set a completion date of August 2026 in its initial request for proposals with $10 million in incentives based on per-day rates ranging between $5,000 to $7,000 to get the job done as quickly as possible. Potential contractors faced daily penalties of $30,000 for exceeding the completion date.

State officials have previously declined to say if a new solicitation will impact the timeline and price to reconstruct a new bridge. At a press conference July 9, officials emphasized they anticipate no impact on Aetna Bridge Co.’s demolition contract.

“The contractor determines the schedule,” said RIDOT Communications Director Liz Pettengill. “They are using the month of August to mobilize. That means identifying and securing resources, bringing equipment in, a barge must be brought to the site, etc.”

An Aetna spokesperson deferred comment on the demolition to RIDOT. The state’s timeframe called on the demolition to be complete by March 2025. In its proposal , Aetna promised to complete tearing down the western highway by Jan. 29, 2025.

Covering costs

As the procurement process continues, McKee’s administration is wasting no time in trying to secure funding to cover the final cost. The Rhode Island Commerce Corp.’s Access to Capital Committee voted 2-0 Thursday, July 18, to recommend that the full board allow the state to borrow $140 million in Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicles (GARVEE) bonds.

Such a bond allows the state to borrow against future allocation of federal transportation money it receives — which is usually about $350 million a year.

The full Commerce Corp. board is expected to vote on the matter during its meeting scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday . State officials expect to close on the bonds by Aug. 29, said Commerce Corp. spokesperson Matthew Touchette.

The state tapped into such bond money in 2003 to relocate Interstate 195, highway projects following the passage of Rhode Works in 2016, and in 2020 to replace the northbound section of the Providence Viaduct Bridge on Interstate 95.

But the state may not have to tap into all $140 million, depending upon whether it can secure a $221 million U.S. Department of Transportation National Infrastructure Project Assistance discretionary grant.

State officials expect to know whether Rhode Island is awarded the federal money sometime in the fall. Should the state fail to qualify for the MEGA funds, officials previously told Rhode Island Current they would seek around $170 million from the Infrastructure For Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant program .

RIDOT Director Peter Alviti, Jr. has acknowledged that the original $250 million to $300 million estimated cost of demolishing and replacing the bridge offered back in March was probably too low. McKee’s office in May then placed the tab at over $400 million. But the final cost of the project will likely be determined after a new request for proposals is issued.

“The market will govern what the actual cost is,” Alviti said at the July 9 press conference, held at the Department of Administration.

Meanwhile, the independent legal team hired by McKee’s administration to help build the state’s case against those at fault for December’s emergency closure said a lawsuit is likely to be filed early next month .

Rhode Island’s commuter crisis caused by the emergency closure of the Washington Bridge is likely a factor in McKee’s declining popularity. Just 29% of Rhode Islanders approve of the job he is doing in a poll released by the University of New Hampshire Thursday. A June survey by the Pell Center at Salve Regina University had McKee’s approval rating at 36%.

The New Hampshire poll found that 71% of Rhode Islanders have used the Washington Bridge since the westbound side was closed in December while 46% have used detours to avoid the increased traffic density. Fewer than 30% of those surveyed approved of McKee’s handling of the westbound bridge closure according to the Pell Center Poll. Nearly six in 10 surveyed thought McKee’s oversight fell short.

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