EAST BAY — The R.I. Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA) Board of Directors recently voted to approve a 10-year capital plan to maintain the safety of the four bridges under the Authority’s jurisdiction, including Mt. Hope and Sakonnet River bridges.

“Our number-one priority here at RITBA is safety,” said Buddy Croft, RITBA’s executive director, in a prepared statement. 

“We maintain four bridges that sit in salt water and are critical to commerce, tourism and the quality of life of the people that use them. It is extremely important that we remain vigilant, maintain, and extend the life of these bridges so the motoring public knows they are safe. This is an expensive undertaking but these are costs we must incur,” Mr. Croft said.

The total cost of the 10-year plan is $223 million, or about $22 million per year. RITBA says it will use bonding authority as needed to manage the financial aspects of this plan. The total cost, including bond repayment, will be funded through ongoing toll revenue and RITBA’s annual share of the state gasoline tax (3.5 cents per gallon). 

The breakdown of RITBA’s budget is as follows:

• 52 percent: Newport Pell Bridge

• 23 percent: Mt. Hope Bridge

• 12 percent: Jamestown Verrazano Bridge

• 6 percent: Sakonnet River Bridge

• 4 percent: RITBA facilities

• 3 percent: RI Rt. 138 connector

Forty-four percent of the budget for the 87-year-old Mt. Hope Bridge is for steel superstructure repairs and retrofits, according to RITBA. 

Another 24 percent is being allocated for bridge deck repairs to avoid a complete deck replacement. Because the Mt Hope is such a narrow two-lane span, replacing the entire bridge deck — it that became necessary — might require taking the bridge out of service entirely for an extended period of time, or necessitate extreme traffic restrictions, RITBA said. Repairing the bridge deck will minimize as much traffic disruption as possible, the Authority said.

Another 20 percent of the budget for the Mt. Hope Bridge is for main cable rehabilitation and dehumidification. 

Only 6 percent of the funding in the 10-year plan will go toward the Sakonnet River Bridge, completed in 2012 and transferred to the authority of RITBA in 2013 by the General Assembly.

Maintenance on the Sakonnet bridge will include:

• installation of a weather station to help the RITBA make weather related decisions

• concrete repairs 

• inspections

• rain work, detention and catch basin maintenance