The Providence Viaduct refers to the two 4-lane bridges in each direction of Interstate 95 (I-95) that passes through downtown

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

, in the United States. The structure passes over the

Woonasquatucket River The Woonasquatucket River (pronounced , Algonquian for "where the salt water ends") is a river in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It flows approximately U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe N ...

and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

lines. It also connects with Interstate 195, U.S. Route 6 (US 6), and Route 146. The bridge was built in 1964 and rehabilitated in 1992. , the bridge is functionally obsolete and rapidly deteriorating. Several of the support beams have crumbled significantly to reveal the steel girders underneath. Additionally, the lower part of the deck has had to be boarded to prevent fragments of the bridge from landing on the streets and railway tracks under the viaduct. In 2019, the State secured $200 Million to rebuild and widen parts of the Viaduct. Given the number of major roads that merge on the Providence Viaduct (I-95, I-195, US 6, and Route 146) and its poor layout, it has frequent accidents and is responsible for much of the traffic jams on I-95.

References

{{reflist Bridges in Providence County, Rhode Island Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Road bridges in Rhode Island Interstate 95 U.S. Route 6 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Steel bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States