PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — The estimated cost to demolish the defunct westbound Washington Bridge has ballooned to nearly $100 million after the McKee administration decided to expand the project to include tearing down the bridge’s substructure.

The R.I. Department of Transportation submitted a so-called “change order” to its existing contract with Aetna Bridge Co., which was awarded earlier this year.

The documents show an additional cost of $38.4 million, which would increase the full cost of the demolition by 66%, up from the $58.2 million that RIDOT had previously budgeted .

Aetna’s contract accounts for well over 80% of the overall demolition budget.

Documents indicate the revised contract was signed Wednesday, but state officials didn’t release it publicly until Friday afternoon.

The soaring price tag comes after Gov. Dan McKee and RIDOT Director Peter Alviti announced Tuesday they have decided to have Aetna demolish everything that stands in the Seekonk River and holds up the existing westbound bridge deck.

Previously, state officials had directed Aetna only to demolish the superstructure (everything above the substructure). Their plan had been to let a second company hired to build a new bridge decide whether they wanted to reuse the existing substructure or demolish and rebuild it themselves.

But no companies came forward in July to bid on the contract to build a new bridge. Alviti said Tuesday he’d received feedback from potential bidders that they wanted the substructure gone in order to start building with “a clean slate.”

The estimated cost of demolishing the westbound bridge has now more than doubled since the spring, when RIDOT had told state lawmakers it would cost $40.5 million to tear it down. Officials abruptly closed the heavily trafficked bridge last December and soon determined it couldn’t be salvaged. The issue has been a major headache for the McKee administration all year.

In March, state officials initially estimated the total cost to demolish and then replace the bridge would be $250 million to $300 million, though they cautioned that those figures were highly preliminary estimates.

In May, officials revised the numbers sharply upward , estimating all costs would total $455 million. The figure rose again a month later, to $473 million , when the state’s initial demolition contract with Aetna came in higher than expected.

But the biggest piece of the existing cost estimate — the $368 million projected price tag for building the new bridge — is in serious doubt the failure of the first bidding process in July.

The state this week kicked off a second attempt at securing a company to build the new bridge, but officials have refused to estimate how that may change the overall cost of the project. The new plan is to hire that company by June 2025 , assuming businesses come forward to bid.

The state’s congressional delegation has secured $221 million in federal grants to help pay for the project, which they had been seeking in connection to early estimates. Typically, highway projects are funded with 80% federal funds and 20% state funds.

Aetna is one of 13 companies the state is currently suing over the failure of the Washington Bridge.

Eli Sherman ( esherman@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter for 12 News. Connect with him on Twitter and on Facebook .

Ted Nesi ( tnesi@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi’s Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter , Threads and Facebook .

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