Two companies chosen to compete for contract to rebuild Washington Bridge

Bella Pelletiere, Kaitlin Gehlhaus, Cate Hanewich,

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Governor Dan McKee and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation have announced that American Bridge and MLJ will compete against Walsh Construction for the contract to rebuild the westbound side of the Washington Bridge.

The announcement comes as Wednesday will mark one year since the bridge was abruptly closed because of structural damage that engineers found.

“This is all good news for Rhode Island, the progress that is being made and the timelines that are being met, and we expect that we are going to continue to report back,” Governor Dan McKee said.

“We have to continue to have patience, know and have confidence that we are doing the work on a schedule that is going to be quicker, I believe, in the end than most bridge constructions in the area or even in the state,” added McKee.

Demolition of much of the westbound span is on track to be finished this winter.

One finalist is a joint venture, American Bridge Company of Pennsylvania with MLJ Corporation of New York.

The other finalist, Walsh Construction Company, is based out of Chicago and worked on the I-95 Q Bridge in New Haven, Conn. and the Whittier Bridge in Mass.

“Both of these companies with the expertise and the consulting companies they bring into their team are more than capable,” RIDOT Director Peter Alviti said. “We’re looking for a bridge to be built for 100 years.”

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation had initiated a two-step procurement process for the replacement of the bridge this time, after no companies submitted bids for reconstruction.

Back in October, RIDOT announced the new reconstruction procurement, and said the process is preferred by the majority of companies.

The process began with the state issuing a request for qualifications, a solicitation that asked interested bidders to submit “key criteria.”

Both companies will now have an opportunity to review and provide feedback on a request for proposal (RFP) issued by RIDOT, which will be distributed next week.

Both will determine if the feedback received will result in better proposals from the companies, and RIDOT said feedback will be incorporated into an addendum to the RFP and posted on Jan. 24, 2025.

The two companies will each submit a technical and cost proposal in response to the RFP, with a tentative award to be made on June 6, 2025.

RIDOT is also offering an increased $1.75 million stipend to the unsuccessful shortlisted company to help cover the costs associated with crafting their technical and cost proposal.

Categories: News

Related