BRISTOL/PORTSMOUTH — When it comes to the nearly century-old Mt. Hope Bridge, looks can be deceiving, says the Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority (RITBA).

Drivers traveling between Portsmouth and Bristol complain about the bumpy riding experience, but the span’s structural integrity is sound, RITBA Executive Director Lori Caron Silveira and Director of Engineering Eric R. Seabury said in an interview last week.

Many of their comments were in response to a recent online story published by RI News Today, which paints a pretty dire view of the 1929 bridge and has been raising concerns among local residents. The story explains how most of the span’s load is carried by the two large suspension cables, each of which are made up of 2,450 individual steel wires bundled in seven strands of 350 wires each.

“The problem is the nearly 100-year-old wires in the suspension cables that support the roadway have been rusting and breaking because of water and moisture getting inside the cables, and have lost strength as a result,” the article stated. “A 2021 report by (RITBA) summarized inspections from 1960-2000 that found 744 broken wires out of a total of 2,450 – a staggering 30 percent. The report mentions a later 2015 inspection but does not give details. Given all the mistakes with the state’s handling of the Washington Bridge, what confidence can we have on the true condition of the Mt. Hope Bridge?”

The story goes on to discuss RITBA’s dehumidification project of the suspension cables in order to extend the life of the bridge.

“In the case of the Mt. Hope Bridge, is it closing the barn door 30 years after the horse has left? Is the unpleasant reality that replacement of the suspension cables, or the entire bridge, is what is really needed?” the story continued. “How many wires are rusted and close to breaking, meaning, they are not effectively carrying a load? The more wires that break, the greater the load put on the remaining wires. Could this result in a cascade effect, reaching a tipping point where the remaining wires can no longer safely carry the load and catastrophically fail?”

The story pushes for RITBA to release to the public the results of a two-day inspection that was conducted of the Mt. Hope Bridge in mid-November 2024.

RITBA’s response

In response to the latter claim, Seabury said there’s a simple explanation for not releasing the inspection report.

“Our inspection reports are marked SSI — sensitive security information. SSI doesn’t get released,” said Seabury, noting that’s been the case since the terrorist attacks of September 2001.

“The reason we don’t release the inspection reports is because of public safety,” he said, adding that the reports are shared only with technical consultants, while some of the information is also released to contractors on an as-needed basis. “There are details of these bridges you just don’t want released to the general public because somebody with nefarious reasons or intents will get that information and guess what will happen? We’re not trying to hide anything.”

Silveira agreed, and said RITBA shares information and consults with The Department of Homeland Security to get guidance on what information can be released publicly. “We’re not at all disrespectful of the public’s right to know, but we are balancing the sensitive security information with their right to know,” she said.

Besides, Silveira said, if any major structural problems were found during an inspection on the bridge, RITBA would be notified immediately and make the needed repairs.

“When a company comes and inspects a bridge, if there was something like a critical finding, they don’t just pack up their equipment and personnel and go home. They of course would let us know — they’re engineers and they have an ethical obligation,” she said, adding that most inspection companies hired by RITBA come from outside Rhode Island.

Broken wires

As for those broken wires, that’s to be expected with any suspension bridge, and most of those on the Mt. Hope Bridge have been repaired over the years, said Seabury. “Any time they do a cable inspection and they find broken wires, they make repairs,” he said. 

Seabury said there was “no 2021 report” as stated in the RI News Today piece; it was rather a grant application by RITBA. “In that grant application, there was talk of broken wires over a period of 40 years. What (the story) fails to say is most of those wires were repaired. (The story is) trying to insinuate that most of those wires are still broken, and they’re not,” Seabury said.

The RI News Today piece also got the math wrong, according to Seabury. There are actually 4,900 wires in total, not 2,450 as reported, he said. That means the 744 broken wires — most of which have been repaired anyway, he repeated — represented a little over 15 percent of the total number at the time.

In March 2024, RITBA conducted what’s known as a cable air flow test as part of initial testing for the dehumidification process. “We opened up eight areas of the cable and found zero broken wires at every location. Not only that, we found the cable strands were in much better shape than we anticipated,” Seabury said.

What’s next?

While RITBA routinely addresses potholes on the bridge, it’s currently bidding a short-term project for this summer — a micro-mill, patching of holes, and rubberized asphalt chip seal treatment to help restore “rideability.”

“We know it’s still a Band-Aid, but it’s probably the best Band-Aid we can apply at this time to get back to credibility. While the riding surface is horrible, the deck is perfectly safe,” said Seabury, noting the steel grids embedded in the concrete, as well as the steel beams supporting it, are the structural parts of the bridge. “When you see a pothole or holes, that has nothing to do with the structural integrity of the bridge.”

A longer-term solution being planned is the replacement of the bridge deck, and RITBA is in the RFP (request for proposals) process to hire a design consultant for that project, Silveira said.

According to Seabury, the deck replacement is “five-plus years down the road,” and could mean the possible shutdown of the entire span. The last time that happened was in 1985, when the bridge was closed for repairs for nine months.

“There’s no way to do it one lane at a time,” said Seabury, while adding that closing the bridge down entirely is just one possibility. “There are other options out there. It could be weekend closures. Though closing the bridge is an option, I really don’t see us doing that.”

The dehumidification project to extend the lifespan of the suspension cables by 50 to 75 years is also proceeding, with construction bids to be opened within a few weeks, Seabury said. Work is expected to start later this year. 

No matter what work is being conducted on the bridge, Silveira said she’s always careful to keep the public informed, such as when she appeared before the Portsmouth and Bristol town councils several years ago to explain the dehumidification process. She also sent a recent letter to the Portsmouth Town Council, and next month plans to present an update on bridge work to that panel.

“I’ve learned in my job that communication is most of the ballgame. If you keep the stakeholders advised, it makes our jobs here much easier,” she said, noting she understands why residents who travel over the bridge are so concerned with its upkeep.

“We’re always mindful that this bridge is 96 years old,” she said.