Just mentioning the word “bridge” in or around Providence is likely to evoke horror stories about earth-shattering traffic delays. Since the westbound lanes of the present Washington Bridge were abruptly closed in December 2023, following the discovery that it was in danger of imminent collapse, a waterfall of woes has been unleashed. A Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen once said, “I demolish my bridges behind me – then there is no choice but forward.” Going backward, however, unveils the long history of Providence bridges and how they evolved.
Emanuel Leutze’s painting of George Washington crossing the ice-choked Delaware River on Christmas night, 1776, is famous, but Washington also crossed the Seekonk River on his way to visit the Comte de Rochambeau and his newly arrived French troops in Newport in March of 1781. There was no bridge yet, so Washington relied on a tidal ferry to cross the river. This type of ferry was pulled across on guide ropes or chains, but tides and bad weather could cause problems and strand users indefinitely on either side.
Washington’s crossing gave rise to naming that first bridge over the Seekonk after him, a covered drawbridge built twelve years later in 1793 by John Brown’s Providence South Bridge Company. It connected to the turnpike road from Watchemoket Square in East Providence to Taunton, Massachusetts. Destroyed twice by bad weather, it was rebuilt in 1807 and replaced again when the Great Gale of 1815, the strongest hurricane to hit New England in 180 years, uprooted it.
Brown Brothers’ Bridges
The first Red or Central Bridge (it was painted red) was also built in 1793 by abolitionist and industrialist Moses Brown, the brother of John who built the first Washington Bridge. Perhaps the brothers’ two bridges were an indication of the rift that developed between them. After his first wife died in 1773, Moses freed his slaves and became a Quaker. John continued to reap profits from the slave trade. Moses had a house not too far from the first Red Bridge at the intersection of Wayland and Humboldt Avenues, while John’s mansion on Power Street was much closer to the first Washington Bridge. Maybe they didn’t want to bump into each other while crossing the river. Like the Washington Bridge, the Red Bridge and its successor were also washed away in the storms of 1807 and 1815.
The Washington Bridge
Quite a few bridges were built on the span that carries today’s Washington Bridge. Its replacement following the hurricane of 1815 remained in operation until 1885 when the new streetcar line required a steel truss swing bridge. Then, in 1930, a neo-classical concrete and stone bascule bridge with a roadway that could be lifted to accommodate shipping was opened. Designed by engineer Clarence W. Hudson and architect Carl L. Otto from New York, it linked the old Fox Point Boulevard on the Providence side with the intersection of Warren and Taunton Avenues on the eastern side of the river. By 1959 it was clear that the newly built I-195 now traveling over the bridge with two lanes in each direction would eventually be too much for the old bridge.
The problem was addressed by the construction of a new, separate bridge, side by side with the older one. The Rhode Island Public Works Department did not like the utilitarian 1960s design and wanted the two bridges to resemble each other. When the cost came in, the department chose to save money by using a new technique of pre-stressed and post-tensioned concrete spans, locked in place with steel anchors. Eventually, an aesthetic compromise was reached using pre-stressed concrete and false arches to resemble the 1930 bridge. When it opened in 1968, the bascule element of the earlier bridge was closed and the two monuments on the northern side were located on each side of the western approach, connecting the bridges visually. The structural technique used for the new bridge was an unusual one for the time and was rarely used in the years after its use in Providence. Since it was not therefore well-understood in subsequent years, this design may have contributed to the bridge failure in December 2023.
Before this catastrophe, the two bridges underwent repairs with steel reinforcements in 1996; the old 1930s bridge was completely rebuilt by 2000. The only part remaining was the linear park with its pedestrian and bike path named for George Redman, a bicyclist and park activist who died in 2012. Plans then began to rehabilitate the 1968 bridge in 2020 but were delayed by lawsuits.
Although the westbound bridge passed an inspection in July 2023, the chance discovery of sheared steel pins by an engineer working on dismantling the deck of the old eastbound bridge a few months later in December, sealed its fate. The plan now calls for full replacement for more than $300 million.
The Red Bridge
The saga of the Red Bridge has a happier outcome. After the first bridge Moses Brown built and the two subsequent bridges washed away in 1807 and 1815, a steel truss swing bridge was constructed in 1872 connecting each end of Waterman Street on either side of the river, with a sturdier replacement in 1895.
The Henderson Bridge
In 1966, the 1895 bridge was dismantled and replaced by the Henderson Bridge, a stationary bridge designed by engineer George Henderson of Rumford, Rhode Island. Also known as the Red Bridge, it spanned 2,000 feet over the Seekonk River, connecting Providence and East Providence. In 2008, $15 million was allocated to expand the bridge into a four-lane highway, but by 2019 plans changed and it was decided to build an entirely new replacement. The new Henderson Bridge opened in phases beginning in 2023. Today despite some trepidation over negotiating the rotary on the East Providence side, the new bridge has become a reliable way to access Providence from the East Bay communities.
Bridge Most Dear to Providence’s Heart
Of all the bridges that have spanned the Seekonk, the one with the most unusual reputation is the Crook Point Bascule Bridge (also known as the Seekonk River Drawbridge) which has decorated the skyline in its frozen and raised position since it was abandoned in 1976.
Described by The Providence Journal in 2022 as “a T-shirt-ready symbol of Providence’s quirky evolution from industrial to creative hub” it has inspired artists, photographers, and industrial archaeologists on the one hand, with others calling it an eyesore that ought to be demolished.
It was built in 1908 as part of the Eastside Railroad Tunnel project that connected Providence’s Union Station with the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroads. Designed by Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company of Chicago, it was electrified between 1908 and 1934 to connect with rail services that ran from Providence through Bristol to Fall River. By the early 1970s railroad usage had declined significantly and in 1976 it was abandoned.
In 2006, Mayor David Cicilline’s Transit 2020 group worked to find transit solutions by reopening the tunnel and the bridge. Then, in 2018, RIDOT made plans to demolish the bridge in 2026-2027. An outcry ensued from the bridge’s adherents prompting the city to hold a design contest for its reuse. The winning proposal by the Horsley Witten Group that repurposed it as part of a public park was announced in 2021. They planned to replace the railroad ties from the bridge with bars of colored light that would adjust to the movement of people in the linear park. Material taken from the bridge was to be used throughout the park and include plantings, a covered event space, seating, and community spaces for play, food, the arts and other events. Due to cost, neither this creative endeavor nor the bridge’s demolition has materialized.
Instead, all eyes are on the demolition of the westbound Washington Bridge. Hassled commuters and suffering businesses now know that in December Governor McKee announced the two finalists for rebuilding: Walsh Construction Company II, LLC and the joint venture of American Bridge Company and MLJ Contracting Corporation. Their proposals are being reviewed and a decision will be made June 6, 2025, with work beginning July 15. When finished, the latest Washington Bridge will be spanning not only the Seekonk but most of Rhode Island’s history.
Ruth Marris-Macaulay is a retired educator who taught at Lincoln School in Providence for 34 years. Born in England she has lived in the United States for 45 years and became a citizen in 2000. She has a bachelor’s degree in Ancient History & Archaeology from the University of Leeds, England, and a master’s degree in American Civilization from Brown University. For 20 years she worked during summers as a mentor teacher to students in Brown’s Teacher Education Program and was a Visiting Lecturer in the Education Department at Brown for a year, doing weekly observations of student teachers in Providence public schools.
