RIDOT: Park Ave. bridge ‘structurally deficient’ since 1996

June 23, 2015 3:52 pm

By News Staff

RIDOT has closed a Cranston bridge after an inspection found ‘significant deterioration’.

The Park Avenue Bridge over Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor in Cranston closed Tuesday afternoon after engineers discovered deterioration in the timber deck, and recommended that it be closed. Inspectors said the timber planks that make up the deck were stressed from the weight of automobile traffic.

After an independent inspection recommended closure, the Federal Highway Administration Rhode Island Division’s engineer also agreed with the decision to close the bridge, saying, “the bridge is a safety risk to the motoring public and must be closed.”

In the report issued Wednesday, one engineer said, “it appears that the asphalt wearing surface has deteriorated significantly since the September, 2014 inspection including the development of the large pothole and shoving/debonding of the adjacent pavement near the west end of the westbound lane. The exposed timber deck in this area was subject to repeated impact loading from vehicular traffic, which included many overweight trucks. The timber boards in this area now exhibit significant cracking, splitting and deflection. In addition, the individual boards appear to be moving independently and not as a single, laminated deck unit as designed. WSP agrees with the recommendation to close the bridge due to the safety hazards posed by the timber deck conditions to the traveling public both on top of the bridge and below the bridge.”

In the September 2014 inspection report, a consulting engineering company said the Park Avenue Bridge continued to be rated as structurally deficient,as it had been since 1996, and continued to be weight restricted, as it had been since 2012.

The initial report RIDOT received from the inspection company this week was a critical findings report, calling for the bridge to be closed immediately. This month’s inspection documents can be viewed here.

The bridge will remain open only for pedestrians and cyclists. Detour routes include:

– Park Avenue Eastbound: Use Reservoir Avenue north and take the on-ramp to Route 10 South. Take the exit onto Park Avenue.

– Park Avenue Westbound: Use the on-ramp to Route 10 North, then take the exit to Reservoir Avenue south and follow to Park Avenue.

– Local Traffic Detour: Local traffic on Park Avenue should use Elmwood Avenue and Wellington Avenue to detour around the bridge closure. The road will remain open to local traffic on either side of the bridge.

The Park Avenue bridge, built in 1906, is classified as structurally deficient and has been inspected every year to monitor its deterioration. Its last inspection was in September of 2014. RIDOT says seven companies will be inspecting Rhode Island’s 230 structurally deficient bridges this summer as part of a new accelerated program. These companies can determine their own order and timeline for their assigned inspections, so long as they complete all of their assigned inspections by mid-August. Since May 8, 2015, 17 inspections have been completed and 9 inspections are currently underway.

The accelerated inspection program began after several incidents including three bridge deck blowouts and an incident where a portion of a beam fell off the Twin River Bridge in Lincoln in March. The three blowouts were on the Elmwood Avenue Bridge in Providence in February, the Pawtucket Avenue Bridge in East Providence in March, and the Big River Bridge in West Greenwich in April.