No bids submitted for Washington Bridge reconstruction

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — No companies have submitted bids to rebuild the westbound side of the Washington Bridge, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation confirmed Wednesday.

The final deadline came and went on Wednesday at 12 p.m.

The project, priced at around $300 million, also included incentives up to $10 million per-day rate for opening lanes of traffic before August of 2026.

The solicitation for the project on the Rhode Island Department of Purchases website featured questions asked by the companies, including one which said that “no changes to the procurement schedule will be made” after a company asked for a time extension.

The westbound side of the bridge has been closed since December as engineers have been working on major structural deficiencies that were discovered during an inspection.

Aetna Bridge Co., was just recently awarded the bid to demolish the bridge. 

In a statement, Chief of Public Affairs for RIDOT, Charles St. Martin said:

“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. While expediency is still the goal, given that the initial RFP did not produce a response, we will now be reviewing and potentially adjusting factors affecting contractor participation to the RFP before rebidding the project.”

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said that receiving no bids was “disappointing” but was only the first step in the process.

“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 been awarded. I remain confident and hopeful that this process will be completed as soon as possible.

I continue to encourage our neighbors and visitors to shop local and shop small, now more than ever the local businesses impacted by this closure need our support.”