Rhode Island DOT finishes inspection of structurally deficient bridges

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) recently announced that it has finished its fast inspection of the state’s structurally deficient bridges in time to meet the mid-August deadline.

The state has a total of 230 structurally deficient bridges. The program is responsible for the accelerated reconstruction and emergency closure of Cranston’s Park Avenue Bridge. It has also resulted in emergency repairs and lane closures at the East Providence’s Pawtucket Avenue Bridge and Pawtucket’s Mineral Spring Avenue Bridge. The program has made minor repairs for over 24 other structures located throughout Rhode Island.

"As we focus on rebuilding our infrastructure, our top priority is keeping Rhode Islanders safe," Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said. "This accelerated inspection program helped us get engineers on the ground to put eyes on every one of our structurally deficient bridges. This is just the type of quick, coordinated action we needed to understand exactly what condition our bridges are in and to move forward with plans to address the problem head on."

The program first began earlier in 2015, when four different bridge problems were reported within eight weeks. The department started the program for the sake of public safety, stating that each bridge must be inspected by the middle of August; the last inspection ended on Aug. 14, 2015.

"Given what I saw in my first eight weeks, I suspected that there were other bridges that needed to be addressed," RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said. "While the results are certainly not surprising, they helped us target several structures that needed immediate attention before a larger problem developed."