R.I. transportation officials go back to drawing board after no bids to replace Washington Bridge

Traffic on I-195 flows on the Washington Bridge in East Providence on Wednesday July 3, 2024, at 1:25 p.m. As of the noon deadline to submit bids to replace the western side of the bridge, no bids were submitted. (Rhode Island Department of Transportation Traffic Camera)

The deadline for companies to submit bids to replace the westbound Washington Bridge came and went Wednesday with no one responding to the state’s request for proposals and its ambitious August 2026 timeframe.

“THERE WERE NO VENDORS RESPONDING,” stated the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s public bid portal on the solicitation page for the reconstruction job estimated to cost $368.3 million.

The documented lack of interest comes five days after the state awarded a tentative $45.8 million contract to Warwick-based Aetna Bridge Co. to demolish the bridge — a process expected to start later this month, according to the state’s initial timeline. 

Aetna’s contract includes an additional $3 million in potential incentive payments to tear the highway down ahead of the state’s March 2025 deadline.

State transportation officials sought to attract as many bidders as possible to rebuild the bridge by offering $10 million in incentives based on per-day rates ranging between $5,000 to $7,000 to get the job done as quickly as possible. RIDOT also planned to offer $500,000 to the companies that came in second and third place.

Potential contractors faced daily penalties of $30,000 for exceeding the completion date.

Some potential bidders questioned the feasibility of rebuilding the bridge by the state’s August 2026 deadline, including one vendor on the online portal who requested RIDOT lower the timeframe to review designs. Another post asked RIDOT to confirm whether the design-build team would be allowed a non-compensable time extension in the event of a concurrent delay.

In addition to asking for contractors to design five lanes of travel over the new bridge, the project includes a new on-ramp from Gano Street, and a new off-ramp to Waterfront Drive. 

“The State purposely chose an aggressive project timeline with corresponding incentives and disincentives with the goal of completing the bridge rebuild as quickly as possible,” RIDOT spokesperson Charles St. Martin said in an emailed statement.

St. Martin added RIDOT’s top priority now is to reissue a request for proposals as soon as the department conducts an analysis over the factors affecting potential contractors. It is unknown when the state plans to issue a second bidding window.

Gov. McKee’s office deferred comment on the lack of bids to RIDOT. The governor has previously acknowledged the possibility that the state may have to adjust the timeframe.

Ken Block, a two-time gubernatorial candidate and founder of Watchdog RI has been a vocal critic of McKee’s administration, even purchasing billboards on I-195 blasting the handling of the bridge crisis. Block reacted to the bidless outcome Wednesday on social media, saying the blame falls squarely on RIDOT.

“The Rhode Island DOT’s lack of professionalism hurts all Rhode Islanders,” Block posted on X (formerly Twitter). “It is bad enough that the DOT did not properly maintain the bridge or proactively determine it was failing. Now, we pay the price because the DOT put together an RFP that was so deficient that no one would bid on it.”

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said in a statement “while it is disappointing that there were no bidders for the reconstruction, the request for proposals for the first step in this process.”

“The demolition of the bridge, has already awarded,” Smiley said.  “I remain confident and hopeful that this process will be completed as soon as possible.”

The western side of the Washington Bridge was abruptly closed last December after engineers discovered broken anchor rods that put the westbound section of I-195 at risk of collapse.

This story was updated to include comment from Providence Mayor Brett Smiley.

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