Providence viaduct bridge no. 578

Steere Engineering provided structural engineering services for many of the operations required for Phase I. This project replaced the heavily used I-95 Southbound Providence Viaduct in downtown Providence, which spans the Woonasquatucket River, Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, and other ramps and local roads. Built in 1964, the bridge had surpassed its design life and showed signs of aggressive deterioration.

The Viaduct is a central artery in Rhode Island, and with over 220,000 daily vehicle crossings, it is one of the most heavily trafficked stretches of interstate on the East Coast.

Steere Engineering, as the engineer for the contractor, provided structural engineering services and temporary works design for many of the operations required for Phase 1 of the project. This included monthly NBIS bridge inspections, design and coordination for the critical temporary ramp AC-AD bridge, support of excavation designs (SOE), erection procedures, and shielding and framework design. Steere also developed a detailed 3D model to verify the temporary bridge construction. The project included replacing the existing structures by constructing a new independent bridge and rebuilding adjacent ramp structures. The replacement structure consisted of 1,290-ft-long continuous steel girder spans supporting a reinforced-concrete deck. New concrete piers and abutments are supported on steel piles. The bridge structure was constructed to accommodate at least four 12-ft lanes of traffic to provide adequate capacity during construction activities.

Through future additional phases, RIDOT will relocate I-95 Northbound traffic to the original Southbound bridge, replace the existing I-95 North bridge, and demolish the original highway bridges once all traffic has been relocated to new structures.

Location: Providence, Rhode Island

Owner: Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT)

Timeline: Design Completed in 2013 for Phase I; Construction Completed in 2018