State files lawsuit against 13 companies who worked on Washington Bridge

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, Gov. Dan McKee, and an outside legal team announced Friday afternoon that they have filed a lawsuit against 13 companies that have provided design, construction, and inspection services to the Washington Bridge.

“The day of reckoning is beginning,” McKee said.

The lawsuit was filed by a legal team consisting of Max Wistow and Jonathan Savage.

“Those companies that knew or should have known that when they were providing design, inspection, or construction services, that the bridge was an unusual design and there were aspects to it that needed to be taken into account when they were providing those services,” Neronha said.

They are aiming to hold 13 companies accountable for what the attorney general’s office is calling a “near-miss catastrophic closure of the bridge.”

“This is civil litigation which is very different than what you may see typically come out of this office,” Neronha said.

In the complaint, the state brought claims of breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and negligence to the following companies:

• AECOM Technical Services, Inc.
• Aetna Bridge Company
• Aries Support Services, Inc.
• Barletta Heavy Division, Inc.
• Barletta/Aetna I-195 Washington Bridge North Phase 2 JV
• Collins Engineers, Inc.
• Commonwealth Engineers Consultants, Inc.
• Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.
• Michael Baker International, Inc.
• Prime AE Group, Inc.
• Steere Engineering, Inc.
• Transystems Corporation
• Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc.

Aetna was awarded the bid to demolish the westbound side of the bridge in July and released the following statement after the lawsuit was filed:

Aetna Bridge Company is a third generation Rhode Island family business and we are proud of our more than 75-year history of bridge construction and repair work in our state. We are aware of litigation filed today related to the failure of the Washington Bridge. We stand behind the quality of all our past work and the work we will perform in the future.  We will vigorously defend ourselves against any claims made in this lawsuit.

The 44-page complaint alleged the companies failed to adequately identify worsening structural issues in a timely manner led to the very sudden closure of the bridge on Dec. 11.

“This case is in really strong, strong hands,” Neronha said.

The attorney general said with time they’ll know a lot more about their own claims and if other parties need to be involved in the lawsuit and he reassured the public that they will find someone to build the bridge.