PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha, along with R.I. Governor Dan McKee and an outside legal firm, announced on Friday that the state is suing more than a dozen companies they say "failed to timely and adequately identify worsening structural issues that ultimately led to the sudden and unexpected closure of the Washington Bridge."
In a complaint filed in Rhode Island Superior Court, the state alleges that the companies failed to alert the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to "multiple issues over multiple years." The state's lawyers are bringing allegations of breach of contract, fiduciary duty, and negligence. Specific charges vary by company, but all thirteen companies are named in a single suit.
Among the named companies are several based here in Connecticut, including Jacobs Engineering Group (Wethersfield), Michael Baker International, Inc. (Rocky Hill), Prime AE Group, Inc. (Wethersfield), Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (Middletown), and Transystems Corporation (which has offices in Meriden).
“In the nearly nine months since the abrupt closure, our economy has borne an immense cost, and our state has and will continue to have to expend significant resources as a result," said AG Neronha in a statement. "Today’s lawsuit seeks to hold accountable those responsible and recover the maximum amount possible for the State."
The Washington Bridge, which connects East Providence to Providence, was closed down in December after an engineer noted structural issues that raised concerns it could collapse. The bridge, which handled tens of thousands of commuters each day, was deemed "unsalvageable" and must be demolished, redesigned, and rebuilt "at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars," reads the complaint.
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