At a news conference on Tuesday, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) swept aside previous timelines to demolish and rebuild the Washington Bridge.
The shift in timeline means construction won’t begin until December 2025. That would be two years after the bridge was shut down due to safety concerns.
At the conference, officials announced a new two-step procurement process to find a contractor to build the new bridge. The previous bidding process did not attract any bidders.
Gov. Dan McKee said the two-step procurement process will start with issuing a request for qualifications. That was released on Tuesday.
The McKee administration plans to narrow the bidders to two finalists, and then issue a request for proposals.
The two finalists will help shape the request for proposals. It is expected to be awarded in June 2025. Once a company is chosen, it will begin design and other work on the rebuild process before actual construction begins.
The cost is still being negotiated according to RIDOT Director Peter Alviti.
The McKee administration is not giving the expected cost or timeline for the bridge rebuild.
"The questions with regard to the schedule and cost and scope, and actually what it will look like, are going to be answered by these companies as we go through the next several months, until June, when we select one of them," Alviti said. "At that time, that will determine -- the companies themselves through competition -- will determine how quickly, how expensively and what it will look like."
Source: WJAR, Providence Journal
