INVESTIGATION: Memorial Boulevard Bridge — RIDOT “Severe Damage,” City’s Review Delayed

INVESTIGATION: Memorial Boulevard Bridge — RIDOT “Severe Damage,” City’s Review Delayed

 

An ongoing investigation by GoLocal into the condition of one of Providence’s most critical bridges — Memorial Boulevard Bridge — has now uncovered questions about the Smiley administration's management of the city’s critical infrastructure.

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The City of Providence owns and is responsible for maintaining approximately 50 structures.

In October, a GoLocal investigation found the condition of the support columns under the Memorial Boulevard bridge in downtown Providence shows significant decay, exposed rebar, and cracking.

Memorial Boulevard is one of downtown Providence’s busiest roads, running from Providence Place Mall and then to the other side of downtown, merging onto Dyer Street — the road is just .5 miles long.

The Memorial Boulevard bridge has been designated as “fair” according to inspections executed by consultants for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT).

Bridges receive three different designations according to federal scoring — Good, Fair, or Poor.  But a deeper dive into the inspection report found that some of the damage to the bridge was deemed “severe” by inspectors going back more than five years.

Some of the repairs that were identified in 2020 and were targeted for repair in 2021 have not been addressed, and the damage has continued.

 

Providence's Review Delayed

Mayor Brett Smiley’s office claimed that his administration was working on a plan to assess all the bridges in the city. In 2024, the City of Providence contracted with PARE engineering firm — a contract with a cost of $512,500.

As part of that contract — according to PARE’s scope of work document — the engineering firm was scheduled to complete an “Asset Management Plan” for the Memorial Boulevard Bridge and dozens of others and complete that report by August 16, 2025.

There are 51 bridges that Providence is responsible for, and PARE was hired to assess.

However, PARE’s Asset Management Plan (AMP) has not been completed to date.

Gregory Berube, the project manager and Vice President for PARE, who is the point person for the engineering firm, did not respond to questions from GoLocal regarding the AMP and the deadline.

 

Memorial Bridge

According to an exhibit submitted by PARE to win the Providence contract, the firm wrote about Memorial Boulevard:

Concurrent with Task 1, the City aims to make repairs to the Memorial Boulevard North Bridge as soon as possible. Critical findings of underwater and above water pylons were reported in 2020 and 2023. A recent underwater inspection was performed by RIDOT in October 2023. The Consultant shall address the known critical findings and all other recommended related repairs. Repairs are likely to require specialized contractor services, and optimizing these repairs with other known repairs are in the best interest of the City.

 

Smiley Administration Claims No Documents

A GoLocal Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request, asking for all documents relating to PARE’s work for the city, relative to the Memorial Boulevard Bridge, resulted in the city only providing the scope of work document and copies of contracts and invoices.

The Smiley administration claimed that there were no other documents.

Josh Estrella, Smiley’s communication director, told GoLocal in an email on October 31, “Noting that PARE completed field visits, not formal inspections – those visits do not have formal, finalized reports.”

When asked why there are no written reports from PARE to the City of Providence, Estrella said, “The outcomes of that report will be included in the forthcoming Bridge Asset Management Plan that is in development."

While there is no AMP from PARE, and there is no way for the public to learn about the condition of the city of Providence’s bridges, PARE has submitted lots of invoices.

In fact, PARE has submitted six invoices totaling $162,800 but the city could not produce one document that the engineering firm has written — not one.

Estrella said,"The PARE Corporation is in the process of developing a proactive bridge asset management program so that the City can assess and maximize the use of all 51 municipally owned vehicle and pedestrian bridges in Providence. The documentation that the PARE Corporation has provided is currently in draft form and will be incorporated in the forthcoming bridge asset management plan.

 

 

Rhode Island Department of Transportation Inspection Reports

The City of Providence claimed it did not have a copy of the most recent inspection report for its Memorial Boulevard Bridge.

Thus, GoLocal submitted a separate APRA request to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation for the inspection report.

That report unveiled rusting and material loss in multiple areas of the bridge’s substructure.

 

 

 

As one of many examples, the report identified decay:

Span 4 –

Pier 2 –

Column “S” – The north side of the concrete jacket exhibits several vertical and horizontal cracks up to 3’ long x 1/8” wide (See Photo No. 42). Additionally, the exposed column/pile exhibits a vertical crack at the west edge of the spall with up to 8” deep penetrations (See Photo No. 42).

Column “V” – The north side of the concrete jacket exhibits an area of map cracking, full perimeter x 30” high with cracks up to 1/8” wide (See Photo No. 44). 

 

 

Pot Bearings

RIDOT’s inspection report states:

Notes: There are steel pot bearings for the floor beams at Abutment # 1 and both piers, which are numbered in accordance with the 1993 Record Plans. The pot bearings exhibit areas of rust, section loss, pack rust between plates, compressions, lateral misalignments, and cylinder pots and piston plates in contact with each other. Additionally,  there are several boats filled with timber below the bridge that are tied around random pot bearings (See Photo No. 49).

 

 

Severe Damage Identified in 2020

According to the inspector's note in the RIDOT report conducted by consultants, some of the damage to the bridge’s structure is severe:

Generated by user "Benjamin Tavares" on 10/7/2020 [BAKER]. Span 4, pier 2, columns S and V have moderate to severe deterioration. Repair columns as required. Quantity = 2 each. [Jacobs] Concrete column deterioration was reported following the 8/18/2022 inspection due to additional spalling, rebar section loss, and cracking. [COLLINS] Repair Columns "S" and "V" due to deterioration.

 

This investigation continues to develop...