Government and Politics
December 18, 2024
From: Rhode Island Governor Daniel McKeePROVIDENCE, RI - Governor Dan McKee today announced that the new initial Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Washington Bridge Replacement Project is now live. The initial RFP includes changes to produce strong, well-defined proposals with innovative solutions for building the new Washington Bridge.
Following the issuance of the new initial RFP, the bidders will have the opportunity to provide comments for the Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s (RIDOT) consideration. The final RFP will be issued on January 24.
"Rhode Island remains committed to building a new Washington Bridge that has a state-of-the-art design, improves traffic flow and, most importantly, is built in a way where we can easily and comprehensively monitor its health over its long lifespan,” said Governor Dan McKee. "The State looks forward to seeing the innovative proposals from the two highly qualified design-build teams competing for this project."
Proposals to the final RFP will be submitted by the two highly qualified design-build teams - Walsh Construction Company II, LLC and the joint venture of American Bridge Company and MLJ Contracting Corporation - that were identified through the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) process last week. The final RFP submissions will be evaluated and awarded based on the best value to the state, a combination of the bidders’ cost and technical proposals. The scoring also weighs the overall use of innovation, quality control, and traffic impacts in the design-build teams’ proposals.
The new initial RFP incorporates many changes suggested by the 11 major companies that participated in the Request for Information (RFI) process. The new initial RFP includes:
The new initial RFP encourages the use of accelerated bridge construction methods to replace the bridge and open travel lanes to the public as quickly as possible. It includes requirements such as carrying five through lanes over the bridge and constructing a new on-ramp to I-195 West from Gano Street and an off-ramp from I-195 West to Waterfront Drive. The project also includes paving, repair, and replacement of drainage structures, and removal of the crossover traffic pattern as lanes are built and opened on the new bridge.
The incentives in the new initial RFP are unchanged from the previous RFP. It provides incentives up to a maximum of $10 million based on per-day rates – ranging from $5,000 per day to $70,000 per day – for opening lanes to traffic in advance of the substantial completion date as determined by the winning design-build team. The more lanes opened for both eastbound and westbound traffic, the higher per-day rate the selected design-build team can earn.
The full procurement schedule is published in the RFP, outlining 15 milestones for the project procurement. Highlights include:
RIDOT remains on track to issue a tentative award to the winning design-build team in early June 2025 and a notice to proceed with work by mid-July 2025. Once the winning company is notified, they will begin work immediately. Initial tasks include finalizing the design, obtaining permits, and staging equipment. The commencement of work in the field will be determined by the schedule provided by the winning design-build team at the time of the award.