Secretary Buttigieg Blames Washington Bridge Design From 1960s for Failure, Takes No Responsibility

Secretary Buttigieg Blames Washington Bridge Design From 1960s for Failure, Takes No Responsibility

United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg was in Rhode Island on Tuesday to tour the failed Washington Bridge — which last week, officials said would take hundreds of millions of dollars to tear down and replace, and take years to do.

Now, the blame game has a new twist.

Buttigieg, when questioned by GoLocal as to who was ultimately responsible for what had transpired that led to the closure of the westbound portion of I-195, blamed the original designers of the bridge — from over 60 years ago.

Meanwhile, the Federal Highway Administration had approved - twice - making appropriations for repairs to the bridge in 2018 and 2021 and had not suggested taking it down. The 2018 repair work cost $25 million and was approved by the Federal Highway Administration and in 2021 another $78 million was approved for this ongoing project.

“Secretary, as you know, some Rhode Islanders have said they might not survive this — especially small businesses. Where does the responsibility ultimately lie — from the USDOT, to the Federal Highway Administration, to Rhode Island government. The failure of this bridge — who’s ultimately responsible for this, Secretary?” asked GoLocal News Editor Kate Nagle.

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“I wish I could have a conversation with some of the people who came up with this design in the 1960s that appears to be the only one of its kind in the country compared to others…but what we know is none of those people here today,” said Buttigieg.

Nagle fired back, however, questioning the role of inspections — which ultimately rest with RIDOT — resulting in what was finally deemed the catastrophic failure.

Buttigieg doubled down on the construct of the bridge itself to be at fault — and applauded the action by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to shut it down.

“Actually, I’m very concerned about the design of the bridge and that’s why we put the word out in the country,” said Buttigieg. “I don’t think there are any other bridges that have this unique combination of design qualities, but if there are, we’ll have to figure out ways to inspect what otherwise would be [inaudible].

“Again lives were saved by the inspection that found this issue,” he said.