PROVIDENCE — Sitting before a group of 26 people responsible for his department’s budget and job status, the state’s transportation chief on Monday said he is “truly sorry” for the commuter crisis caused by the partial closure of the Washington Bridge.

“I accept responsibility for this — I am at the top of DOT,” Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) Peter Alviti Jr. told the joint House and Senate Oversight Committee. “We eat, drink and sleep the problems of this every day.”

But Alviti was also quick to defend the closure of the westbound side of the bridge connecting East Providence and Providence, telling the joint committee during a nearly four-hour hearing it was the only way the state could avoid a collapse.

“It’s an awesome responsibility to care for that,” he said.

Alviti was not alone in the hot seat Monday. He was joined by VHB Engineering Director Jeffrey Klein, whose firm is a consultant on the ongoing bridge repairs; and Joseph Almond, Gov. Dan McKee’s senior deputy chief of staff.

Almond was assigned by McKee to provide additional oversight at RIDOT and assist in “cross-agency coordination” for all operations related to the bridge closure.

All three men presented the timeline of the events leading up to the closure, including the fact that McKee was not aware that the initial bridge announcement on Dec. 11, 2023, would become a press conference.

“It’s my understanding that the governor’s communications office was alerted that DOT was going to take press questions,” Almond said. “They were not aware it was going to be a formal conference.”

Klein, meanwhile, explained why the state’s initial three-month timeline to reopen the bridge was scrapped. He testified that new defects were uncovered between Jan. 6 and Jan. 16 including “unsound concrete” and “soft grout” — all of which exposed the rods anchoring bridge beams in place.

“All of these deficiencies could indicate reduced tension in these cables, resulting in internal loss of strength within the existing beams,” he said.

Alviti at several moments in the hearing told the joint committee his staff is working 24/7 to find any solutions to traffic problems caused by the bridge closure.

“That’s the mission — to get people’s lives back to what they were before,” he said.

Already, he said RIDOT has increased the number of inspections on the state’s more than 1,100 bridges to ensure deficiencies are found sooner. RIDOT is also working on new traffic patterns to mitigate traffic congestion, including new lanes.

‘Holy moly’

Committee chairs stressed the hearing would not be a blame game, but that did not stop legislators from grilling witnesses about transparency and lengthy commutes motorists now face. Rep. Julie Casimiro, a North Kingstown Democrat, kicked off the Q&A session by holding up a stack of hundreds of papers she said RIDOT sent legislators at 3 p.m. Friday

That stack elicited an immediate “holy moly” from Alviti.

“How do you possibly expect us to go through here and … to find out who’s accountable?” Casimiro said.

Rep. Lauren Carson, a Newport Democrat, asked if RIDOT employees are up to task, citing Boston Globe reports of a toxic work environment at the department.

Alviti defended the culture at his department, citing the rehabilitation of 270 of the state’s bridges over the past eight years.

“You don’t do that if your entire workforce is disgruntled or toxic,” he said.

Rep. Jon Brien, a Woonsocket independent, targeted his comments toward McKee. He expressed frustration over the governor’s previous comments that the commute time has only increased by 15 minutes.

“Everybody knows that’s false,” he said.

Almond suggested that McKee meant those times were the minimum delay and pointed to a new online dashboard RIDOT created for commuters to keep track of how long it takes to travel across the bridge.

Lots of unknowns

Legislators mainly focused on two main questions: What put the bridge at risk of collapse and should it be replaced? Alviti had the same response each time: He does not yet have those answers.

On several occasions, Alviti reminded lawmakers he expects to have recommendations on next steps from engineers by the end of February or early March. Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz, a North Smithfield Republican, wanted to know why it will RIDOT that long to analyze the bridge.

Alviti said that’s because of the Washington Bridge’s unusual cantilevered design — a product of its construction during the 1960s.

“That makes this not only a difficult bridge to reconstruct or rebuild, but also more unique and difficult to analyze,” he said.

Rep. Joe Solomon, a Warwick Democrat, asked Alviti and Klein whether there were internal discussions to put weight restrictions on the bridge prior to the closure. They both said they were unaware of any recommendations.

Also unclear: the role pigeons played in the bridge’s last inspection in July. 

Rep. Edith Ajello, a Providence Democrat, pointed to documents saying “severe pigeon debris” obstructed views of some of the rods.

“I’m kind of concerned that the people in charge of doing an inspection would note something like that — say it was in their way and just walked away not really completing the inspection,” she said. “Is that common practice or was that unusual?”

Alviti said he was not sure how often such a situation happens. He assured the committee any pigeon debris was not on the part of the bridge that needed to be repaired, but that the birds do frequent the underside of the highway.

“There’s a constant presence of these birds out there redepositing the debris we clean,” he said.

House Oversight Chairperson Patricia Serpa, a West Warwick Democrat, acknowledged that not all the questions posed by lawmakers would be answered at the initial hearing Monday.

“This meeting is just a first step of informational gathering,” Serpa said. “So please don’t breathe a sigh for one minute and think we’re done.”

More hearings are on the way, she added.

“I will be there,” Alviti said as he left the meeting.

Rep. José Batista, a Providence Democrat who is a member of the House Oversight Committee, was not present for Monday’s hearing.

Editor’s Note: Christopher Shea covers politics, the criminal justice system and transportation for the Rhode Island Current, an independent, nonprofit news outlet focused on state government and the impact of public policy decisions in the Ocean State. For more stories from the Rhode Island Current, go to rhodeislandcurrent.com.