Rhode Island currently ranks near the bottom for structurally deficient bridges and deficient bridge deck area. This is slow progress, especially in view of the full mandate and power granted to state Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti, who now enters year nine of his 10-Year Plan − one committed to righting the wrongs of infrastructure past. By all indications, that plan is well behind schedule as 170 bridges remain in “poor condition.”
In early December, a potentially catastrophic flaw was discovered on the perennially reconstructed Washington Bridge, which was built in 1968. Aside from the impacts on businesses and commuters statewide, the most glaring concern arose from missing a critical structural failure on the scheduled visual inspection of that bridge − first thought to be inspected within two months of the flaw’s “surprise” discovery and later found to have been inspected as far back as July. Of further concern should be the fact that a young engineer, unrelated to the scheduled visual inspection protocol, found the flaw by happenstance.