Washington Bridge Discovery

In December 2023, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation abruptly closed half of the Washington Bridge over the Seekonk River in Providence. An on-site inspection revealed broken anchor rods on a bridge span, a critical failure that necessitated the complete shutdown of the westbound traffic lanes.

Professional engineer Casey Jones requested that Value.Space conduct an analysis of the bridge prior to the discovery of the critical failure on-site.

Value.Space’s standard three-year satellite-based assessment of the bridge up to the closure of the westbound lanes in December 2023 shows the following:

• A movement cluster with different seasonal behavior was identified at the span with broken rods.

• Regular monitoring of the bridge could have indicated this as early as summer 2022.

• Analysis of the satellite-measured movement data revealed additional areas on the bridge deck supporting the eastbound lanes that exhibited different characteristics compared to the movement of the rest of the structure.

For more details, watch Casey Jones’ video update with Value.Space’s input or contact us directly. 

If you would like to obtain more information or get in touch, please reply to this email. We look forward to speaking with you soon!