(The Center Square) — Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee's lawyers are preparing to sue over the failure of the Washington Bridge over Interstate 195 after the massive reconstruction project failed to generate any bids from contractors.
On Wednesday, members of a legal team assembled by McKee said they plan to pursue legal action — possibly as soon as next month — against whoever is determined to be responsible for the bridge's failure but noted that the case is "complicated" and will require a forensic investigation into the causes.
"This is not a slip-and-fall at Stop & Shop," Attorney Max Wistow told reporters on Wednesday during a briefing. "This is an extremely complicated, very fact-intensive, and very labor-intensive case."
The threat of litigation follows news that the state failed to find a contractor to do the bridge project despite contacting more than 2,000 construction companies. Not a single bid on the project, officials said.
On Tuesday, Peter Alviti, director of the state Department of Transportation, attributed the lack of bids for the project to an aggressive rebuilding schedule that "pushed the envelope beyond what the construction industry is willing to bear." The bid for solicitations had called for the bridge to be replaced by August 2026.
"We're doing our very best to address the concerns of the people who want us to move quickly on this and to hold our contractors to a very high level of standards and to set a high bar for these contractors in meeting their responsibilities," he said at a Tuesday briefing.
He said the state is requesting information seeking feedback from construction companies on what needs to change to make the bridge replacement project viable.
The McKee administration is investigating the circumstances that led to the need to shut down and replace the bridge, and the Democratic governor has pledged that a "day of reckoning" will be "coming soon."
An independent review of the Washington Street Bridge uncovered additional structural deficiencies that required it to be replaced. The westbound portion of the bridge, originally built in 1969, was rated as "poor," according to the Federal Highway Administration’s latest National Bridge Inventory.
In December, the state shut down the bridge after civil engineers discovered that "anchor pins" holding structural beams in place were failing, which could have caused the bridge to collapse.
The estimated $400 million price tag for the project includes demolishing the structurally deficient structure that serves as a gateway to Rhode Island's largest city, Providence, carrying nearly 100,000 vehicles a day over the Seekonk River. The state has already procured a demolition company to take down the bridge.
McKee said Rhode Island will apply for a U.S. Department of Transportation grant to pay for 60% of the expense. He has also submitted a budget amendment to borrow up to $334.6 million to pay more of the bridge replacement cost if the state doesn't get the federal grant.
McKee said the situation has been "disruptive and challenging" and that it "will continue to be that way for a while" but pledged to "do everything necessary to keep people safe" and get to the bottom of what caused the failures.
The state has also spent $400,000 on a digital ad campaign to win public support for the replacement project.
Rhode Island Republicans, including GOP Chairman Joe Powers, have blamed the McKee administration for ignoring deficiencies flagged by bridge inspectors over a decade ago.
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