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RIDOT releases final bidding window for the Washington Bridge

The department hopes to award the final contract to a contractor by early June.

Illustration of cars stuck in traffic.

Last week, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation posted the final request for proposal for the I-95 Washington Bridge Replacement Project.

The RFP, a document created to solicit proposals from potential contractors, details the technical changes developers need to address when rebuilding the westbound side of the Washington Bridge. The state hopes to award the final contract by June 6, and will reveal the timeline and cost for the bridge after this date, according to a RIDOT press release.

The two developers competing for the state’s contract are a joint venture between American Bridge Co. and MLJ Contracting Corporation, and Walsh Construction Company. Both were selected as finalists last month.

RIDOT initially shut down the westbound side of the bridge in December 2023 due to structural and safety concerns flagged by engineers working on the bridge. Three months later, the department announced the westbound side would need to be demolished and entirely rebuilt, The Herald previously reported.

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While the eastbound side of the bridge is still in operation, residents are feeling the impact of the bridge’s partial closure, largely due to increased commute times and heavy traffic congestion.

In July, RIDOT received no bids to replace the westbound side of the bridge, as some developers questioned the practicality of completing construction by the department’s initial August 2026 deadline. RIDOT released a new request for qualifications in mid-October.

The two finalists met with RIDOT before the state issued an initial RFP on Dec. 18. The department then gave the two finalists until Jan. 3 to provide feedback on what they wanted to see in the final bidding document.

With the final RFP, both companies will have the opportunity to have three confidential meetings with RIDOT about their construction plans before they release the award in June.

The final RFP “includes changes that were mostly incidences of clarified language and better articulation” of the contractor’s reconstruction job tasks, according to the RIDOT press release.

The contractors will follow the RFP’s guidelines “when crafting their responses over the next few months” Charles St. Martin III, RIDOT’s chief of public affairs, wrote in an email to The Herald.

The RFP lists major details that the winning contractor will have to implement when reconstructing the bridge, including safety and construction concerns.

The contractor will need to completely replace the substructure and superstructure of the westbound side of the bridge, with no reuse of the existing foundation elements, according to the document. Additionally, the company must rebuild one on-ramp bridge that leads onto westbound I-195, and one off-ramp bridge that leads into East Providence.

The proposal also emphasizes the safety and environmental concerns the contractor must factor into their construction efforts. The contractors need to upgrade the existing guardrails and barriers of the bridge as well as update any signage, lights or traffic infrastructure that might be impacted in the process. New drainage structures will also need to be built for the bridge to properly manage any waste disposal.

RIDOT also mandates that the winning contractor collaborate with the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority to prevent the construction process from interfering with bus routes in the area.

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Cristy Raposo Perry, the director of communications and public outreach of RIPTA, emphasized the organization’s commitment to “working collaboratively” with RIDOT to ensure “public transit is considered as part of the design and construction phases of the bridge project.”

Perry mentioned RIPTA’s recent rerouting of Routes 35 and 78 that aim to direct traffic away from the bridge and toward the East Side Tunnel. RIPTA will continue their goal “to better serve riders during and after construction,” adjusting service when necessary.

“We look forward to working closely with RIDOT and the selected vendor to maintain reliable service for our riders during construction,” said RIPTA Chief Executive Officer Christopher Durand in an email statement sent to The Herald.

So far, the state has received $220.98 million in federal funding to replace the bridge, but the Trump administration’s recent federal funding freeze raises uncertainty about the state’s future access to this funding.

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Sanai Rashid

Sanai Rashid lives in Long Island, New York. As an English and Economics concentrator, she is passionate about storytelling and how numbers and data create narratives in ways words alone cannot. When she is not writing, you can find her trying new pizza places in Providence or buying another whale stuffed animal.



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