The nearly $6 million state project that seeks to span the Kickemuit River with a pedestrian bridge for the first time since it was destroyed by the Hurricane of 1938 now faces delays in its completion, after the contractor that was hired by the state Department of Transportation (DOT) dismissed its assigned crew amidst larger financial woes.

The Times-Gazette learned through email correspondence that the Cardi Corporation, which was the bidder selected by the DOT to undertake the “Broken Bridge” project back in late 2021, had suddenly laid off the project team responsible for the work, leaving behind equipment and building materials in the staging area near the western terminus of the Warren Bike Path near Kickemuit Middle School.

The sudden turn of events required a new subcontractor to be chosen continue work, which was reportedly done within the last week, according to Jody Richards, the DOT project manager for the bridge project. Richards added in the email, which was sent to Warren Town Planner Herb Durfee III on Monday and forwarded to the Times-Gazette, that the layoff was related to Cardi’s financial issues, which has been reported by other local media outlets in the past weeks and months.

“[T]he Contractor for this project has financial issues and laid off the project team so our normal construction operations have been significantly impacted,” Richards wrote. “We are transitioning to a subcontractor who has been brought on to the project in the last week to assist with finishing the project. We will be working with this new team to ensure the site work continues. This is a unique challenging situation impacting many projects with the Department but this project is a priority and we will get through this process as quickly as possible.”

Alarm bells rung to DEM
The state of the site following the apparent departure of Cardi’s original project team didn’t go unnoticed by one local resident, Robert Pare, who sent an email to the Times-Gazette and to officials at the Department of Environmental Management (DEM) regarding his concern over the condition that the area was left in after visiting the site on Aug. 12.

“We all know Cardi Corporation is in the midst of financial woes but the conditions left behind on this unfinished project are certainly a harm to the environment. This historic, Class A river now looks more like a war-torn landscape,” Pare wrote. “Upon visiting with extended family, including very young members, I took note of the hazards to both humans and wildlife. To name just a few:

• Plastic sheet material adrift with the tide and lodged in muddy embankments
• Large vinyl tarps draped into the water, degrading, fragmenting, and even covering shellfish beds
• Masses of rusting rebar, concrete mesh, and scrap metal strewn about
• Large, solid, masses of rusting concrete from wood screws lying about (this was stumbled upon by a 5-year-old niece)
• Unfilled concrete column trenches that are trapping fish and other wildlife with tidal changes.

I realize that this Cardi project is much smaller in the grand scheme of this failing company’s woes, but the issue is bigger for the Town of Warren. It is a secluded project and these conditions could easily go unnoticed.”

A photographer sent out to the site on Tuesday morning revealed that at least some of this alleged debris had been cleaned up since Pare’s visit on Aug. 12, although some vinyl sheeting could be seen submerged in the river that was covering a portion of the incomplete construction.

DEM spokesman Evan LaCross confirmed that they had received Pare's complaint, and forwarded it to the Coastal Resource Management Council (CRMS), which has authority over the project's construction.

So what now?
Charles St. Martin, spokesman for DOT, provided the following response to further questions about the status of the bridge project, including how the timeline would be affected and who the new subcontractor was.

“[W]e are aware that the prime contractor, Cardi, has been using subcontractors on some of its projects. About which subcontractor they may use for this project, we suggest that you talk directly to them,” he wrote on Tuesday morning. “As for timeline, a new timeline has not been developed yet. We are monitoring all RIDOT projects, including this one, to ensure they are completed on budget and to the scope outlined in the contract.”

A request for comment from the Cardi Corporation was not answered as of press time.