Costly RI bridge still not completed
Alternative content
Barrington Bridge
It will still be another four months before all lanes are open to traffic on the Barrington Bridge.One of the longest and over budget bridge projects in Rhode Island’s history is still not completed.
The westbound lane on the Barrington Bridge opened on Wednesday, but it will still be another four months before both lanes are open to traffic.
“We had a number of challenges we faced during the life of that contract. What we needed to do is work through them. A lot of it had to do with conditions we encountered with construction that we anticipated with the plan,“ said Frank Corrao of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Environmental conditions and miscalculations led to delays and a $5 million payment to the construction company.
The Barrington Bridge project was put out to bid for $12.3 million in 2003. The total cost of the project when it’s completed will be about $24 million.
“It’s going to be a safe bridge that’s really going to serve that community for many years to come,“ Corrao said.
Both lanes on the bridge and new connection roads should be completed by January.
Advertisement
Reader Reactions
The difference between the bid and the actual cost was $11.7 mil. Miscalculations?? More like $11.7 mil worth of graft and corruption. The state officials and the construction company should be investigated and charged with corruption and fraud if that is what is was. This is inexcusable. Taxpayers fleeced again!
Well RB, I’m not making excuses for the state, but the amount of time was a combination of several factors. The building of two temporary bridges, the demolition of the two existing bridges, the dredging and the underwater work for the new bridges, the roadwork surrounding the new bridges, and so on.
Part of it was that Rte. 103 is the major route through there, and it had to be kept open. Part of it is going to be the many improvements made around the bridge work on both bridges—and part of it is going to be the deconstruction of the two temporary bridges when the two new ones are open.
Still, I agree with you—at 2,550 days and still counting, the contractor will have had time to do the work twice over when all is said and done.
Empire State Building = 400 days to finish
Barrington Bridge over a stream = 2,550 day and counting
Why?
“We had a number of challenges we faced during the life of that contract. What we needed to do is work through them. A lot of it had to do with conditions we encountered with construction that we anticipated with the plan,“ said Frank Corrao of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation.
Any chance of being a little more specific as to why it will take over 7 years and millions of additional dollars to complete this project?
Advertisement