Footbridge condition critical, says DOT report
A bridge that carries both people and drinking water across the Blackstone is in urgent need of repairs, says state
WOONSOCKET – For many foot-travelers trying to reach the downtown area from East Woonsocket, a route that includes the Kendrick Avenue Pedestrian Bridge offers the shortest distance between two points.
But the 300-foot, 83-yearold span across the Blackstone River does much more than carry foot traffic. In a secondary – and mostly unnoticed – role that city officials consider just as important, the bridge supports one of only three mains that deliver drinking water to household and commercial taps in the eastern half of the city.
Thus married to the main, the bridge is a vital piece of utilty infrastructure. And it’s in critical condition, according to the state Department of Transportation.
“They conducted a couple of reviews and made some recommendations,” says Public Works Director Steven D’Agostino. “They didn’t ask us to close the bridge.”
Based on DOT’s
inspections, the city has now issued a public request for proposals for comprehensive repairs to the bridge.
The scope of the work, spelled out in 80 pages worth of bid specification forms, includes replacing and repainting some of structural steel girders of the bridge, which appear to be corroding.
In its present condition, D’Agostino said DOT doesn’t think the bridge is unsafe for pedestrians. But city officials are concerned about maintaining the integrity of the structure to support the 12inch main that carries drink- ing water across the Blackstone River to thousands of Water Department customers.
“Like most things in the city, this situation didn’t happen yesterday,” said the public works director. “It’s been a long time coming.”
If the operation of the water main were compromised for any reason, D’Agostino said, the city could work around it.
But it would be difficult, disruptive work.
The city would have to find a way to reroute the other mains to a tie-in on the east side of the Blackstone River. That would very likely result in service interruptions for water customers, but it’s unclear how many would be affected, and for how long, according to D’Agostino.
Built in 1934, the Kendrick Avenue Pedestrian Bridge is owned by the city, but DOT has regulatory jurisdiction over the bridge, including the power to shut it down, if necessary.
After an inspection of the state’s worst bridges by DOT engineers in August 2015, the Kendrick Avenue Pedestrian Bridge landed on a list of 28 spans that were recommended for immediate action after they were described as being in “critical condition.”
“What we’re doing is out of an abundance of caution here,” DOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. said at the time. “Taking measures to make sure that these critical findings do not turn to safety problems.”
DOT initiated an emergency inspection of bridges around the state in 2015 after four major bridge issues surfaced elsewhere in the state during the first two months of the year. At the time, transportation officials said one of every five bridges in the state was structurally deficient but the Kendrick Avenue bridge and 27 additional bridges – many in the Blackstone Valley – were in even worse shape.
DOT inspected the Kendrick Avenue bridge most recently in 2016, a review that prompted the city to issue the request for proposals, according to D’Agostino.
“We’re taking their recommendations and putting them out to bid to see what kind of prices we get,” said D’Agostino.
The cost of the project won’t be known until after the city receives one or more bids, but D’Agostino said he’s optimistic the work can be completed for less than $200,000.
The bid deadline is Tuesday.