Cars traveling south on Route 114 through Barrington on Thursday, Feb. 13 were greeted with gridlock as they neared the Barrington Shopping Center.

The cause for the traffic became more apparent to motorists as they neared the Barrington River Bridge: A large truck pumping concrete through a pipe to the bottom of the bridge had blocked off the south-bound travel lane of Route 114. 

The work was part of a $2.19 million repair job, designed to fix some problems with the bridge's substructure.

The relatively young bridge — it was opened to traffic in 2009 — has experienced "advanced scouring" adjacent to some of its piers, according to a Rhode Island Department of Transportation official. Sections of the riverbed near the bridge have eroded, leaving portions of the bridge piers that were initially below ground now exposed to the water.

Meanwhile, the Warren River Bridge appears to have avoided a similar issue. 

Built at about the same date as the Barrington River Bridge and standing against an arguably stronger tidal current, the Warren River Bridge is showing no signs of advanced scouring at its piers, said a DOT official last week.

"Every bridge is different," said the official during an earlier interview. "Every water body is different."

The Barrington River Bridge was riddled with problems even before it was built.

The hired contractor, Shire Corporation, won the rights to build the bridge, bidding $10.3 million, but by the time the structure was finished, the cost was more than double the original bid.

The project experienced numerous delays. 

It was initially reported that the new bridge would be completed in 2003 or 2004, but by Nov. 2003, Shire had just started demolishing the old span. In June 2004, workers deserted the site, as Shire officials disputed a design change that had been put forth by the DOT. 

The Federal Highway Administration reviewed the change in Sept. 2004 and crews eventually returned to the site, but it was not long before there was more trouble. 

Work stopped for a while when one of the cranes used by Shire bent and buckled and needed to be replaced. The contractor was also ordered to stop working for a period of time when it was discovered the company had not received the necessary permitting from the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct in-water work.

Then, in Dec. 2004, the contractor hired to handle the deep excavation for the Barrington River Bridge footings took Shire Corporation to Superior Court. The Pennsylvania-based contractor Joseph B. Fay Company said Shire owed them approximately $600,000. 

The Joseph B. Fay Company received a court order requiring Shire's insurer, U.S. Fire, to pay them $406,114. Meanwhile, Shire officials said it was Joseph B. Fay Company that actually owed them money. 

In Jan. 2005, about a month after receiving the court order, Joseph B. Fay Company removed its workers from the job site. 

Shire then announced that it would use its own crews to finish the deep excavation of the bridge piers.

In 2009, the DOT opened the Barrington River Bridge to traffic, and in April 2019, an inspection of the bridge yielded a failing grade. 

DOT inspectors listed the overall bridge rating as a 4, which is considered "poor." The reason for that failing grade was the bridge's substructure — soil at two of the bridge's six piers had eroded, exposing portions of the bridge footings to the water. 

An official for the DOT said the state would pay for the repair work, adding that Shire was not going to be held responsible.

An early estimate for the repair work was $100,000, but DOT officials later said that estimate was only for an interim repair and that the permanent repair would cost $2.19 million. 

The DOT official said that despite the pier problems, the bridge was still safe to carry vehicle traffic.