PROVIDENCE – Only two firms have submitted bids to demolish the westbound span of the Washington Bridge: Aetna Bridge Co. and the Connecticut-based Manafort Brothers.
If all goes according to plan, a “tentative award” will be made to one of the two companies Friday.
Aetna already connected to the Washington Bridge
Aetna is a familiar name in Rhode Island.
A joint venture of Barletta Heavy Division and Aetna Bridge was in the midst of a $78-million rehab project on the Washington Bridge when the westbound span was found to be unsafe.
The contract for that project was terminated earlier this year and the Department of Transportation would not say at the time whether Aetna is eligible to bid on the new $455-million demolition and replacement contracts.
Aetna is also in a partnership with Vanasse Hangen Brustlin to design and build the new East Bay Bike Path bridges at the Barrington-Warren line in an unrelated $24-million contract.
Aetna was one of the dozen companies that received warning letters from lawyers the McKee administration hired to try to get financial damages for the bridge failure because for years, the company inspected or did work on the Washington Bridge.
Manafort’s connections in Rhode Island
Manafort also has history in Rhode Island.
A joint venture by Skanska and Manafort landed the contract for the massive rebuild and expansion of the Interstate 95 North Providence Viaduct.
The company ended up suing the state Department of Transportation in 2016, seeking $4 million in damages for extra work it had to perform on I-95 South in downtown – a stretch known as the Providence Viaduct – and for breach of contract, causing the project to be delayed by more than a year. It was one of the first major projects in Rhode Island for Manafort, based in Plainville, Connecticut.
It was not clear on Monday how much, if anything, the state ended up paying.
Other bridge contracts awarded
Two contracts were awarded in the leadup to Monday’s submission of bids for the demolition of the closed side of the Washington Bridge: The first contract was the $1.77-million contract awarded to VN engineers for work on the request for proposals that went out for the demolition contract. Another $3.58 million went to GM2 for the design of the “construction” RFP.
What about the forensic analysis?
No further information has been released on the findings of the in-depth “forensic analysis” the state commissioned to find out who, if anyone, didn’t do their job and who will face the “Day of Reckoning” promised by Gov. Dan McKee.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Aetna, Manafort put in bids to demolish west Washington Bridge
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