The I-195W Washington Bridge is coming down. Here's how it'll happen and what to expect

PROVIDENCE – The asphalt surface that millions of drivers crossed on the westbound span of the Washington Bridge is being ripped off the condemned structure and dumped into trucks, marking the first stage of the demolition process.

By the end of January, the superstructure of the bridge – all of the horizontal bits that cross the river – should be gone. Of the old bridge, only the vertical supports that held the superstructure up, known as piers, will remain.

The demolition is being done by Aetna Bridge Company under a $45.8-million contract that could grow to $48.8 million if the work is finished on time. Jacobs is the lead engineering firm on the project and J.R. Vinagro is the demolition subcontractor.

Aetna was part of the consortium that was doing repairs on the Washington Bridge when critical structural problems were found last December, and then was tasked with emergency work to prevent it from collapsing.

And with its consortium partner, Aetna was one of the 13 state contractors sued by the state earlier this month for what Rhode Island's attorneys argue is shoddy work leading to the Washington Bridge's damaged condition.

Why will it take more than four months to tear the bridge down?

The westbound Washington Bridge is being taken apart piece by piece, instead of being blown up like the old Jamestown Bridge, to prevent debris from getting into the river and to protect the adjacent eastbound span (which is now carrying cars in both directions.)

So removing the pre-cast concrete beams that make up the bridge superstructure will happen throughout the fall. It will disappear gradually instead of all at once.

More: The 6-10 soil case sidelined a major contractor. Here's how it's impacting the Washington Bridge.

Chunks of bridge over land can be removed with the help of cranes on the East Providence or Providence waterfronts.

To get to parts of the bridge over the Seekonk River, workers will use a barge positioned by the structure.

Will the demolition cause any disruption to traffic on either side of the river?

" When we begin removing beams, Waterfront Drive [in East Providence] may be temporarily closed for approximately a week using Valley Street (which runs parallel to Waterfront Drive) as a detour," state DOT spokesman Charles St. Martin wrote in an email. "Likewise, there will be the need for a weekend closure of Gano Street [in Providence] for beam removal there. At other times, Gano Street may have overnight closures when traffic volumes are low."

He added that the precise beam removal schedule has not been finalized, and when it is, drivers will be notified.

When will demolition be finished?

According to Aetna's bid for the demolition contract, they expect "substantial completion" of the project by Jan. 29, 2025, in plenty of time to qualify for the $3-million performance bonus. The state's request for proposals required the demolition to be substantially complete by next March.

If the demolition is already underway, when will reconstruction happen?

Still unknown. The state Department of Transportation says it is still reviewing the responses to an inquiry to contractors on why no one in the construction industry bid on its design-and-build request for proposals, even though all of those responses were in by the start of August.

More: State files sweeping lawsuit over Washington Bridge shutdown. Here's who is in the crosshairs.

The state had hoped to have a new Washington Bridge open by this time in 2026, but every month that goes by without any move toward even hiring a contractor makes that less likely.

Are other states struggling like this?

If so, it is not obvious.

Maryland received three bids this summer to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge near Baltimore, which collapsed after being hit by a runaway cargo ship in March, three months after the westbound Washington Bridge closure.

And on Thursday, Maryland officials awarded a $73-million contract for the first phase of a reconstruction project, which has been estimated to cost $1.7 billion in total and be done by fall 2028.

The old Key Bridge was 1.6 miles long, compared with the Washington Bridge length of around a third of a mile.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: The I-195W Washington Bridge is coming down. Here's how it'll happen and what to expect