Overview:
The U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Office of Inspector General are seeking documents and records related to the sudden closing of the Washington Bridge last month.
Gov. Dan McKee’s office revealed the development in a statement Friday evening.
“This is not unexpected, and the Governor welcomes the review,” McKee spokeswoman Olivia DaRocha said.
DeRocha said McKee instructed the state Department of Transportation to fully cooperate with the information request from federal officials, and she noted that the governor previously directed the state Department of Administration to hire an independent third-party expert to review the abrupt closing of the Washington Bridge.
The westbound part of the bridge, part of I-195, was closed by the state in mid-December after a contractor noted weakness in a set of metal pins under-girding the structure.
It was later reopened with reduced-capacity bypass lanes, and traffic has remained snarled in the Providence area at peak travel times due to the reduced flow.
The original time estimate for repairing the bridge was about three months.
However, state officials announced Monday that more time would be needed to analyze the bridge and they declined to rule out the possible demolition of the westbound portion.
On Friday, East Bay lawmakers including state Rep. Jason Knight (D-Barrington) said RIDOT Director Peter Alviti told them that additional engineering details are expected in late February or early March.
State lawmakers plan an oversight hearing on the issue before that.
DaRocha said McKee will meet with the engineers scrutinizing the bridge “to get briefed on the situation directly from them.”
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis@thepublicsradio.org
