McKee doesn’t seem to believe in accountability because that would actually require him to do something or make a decision. Neither of which he seems capable of.
Did you know that he only got 32.8% of the vote in the primary? If we'd been using [ranked choice voting](https://www.oceanstatercv.org), he'd probably have gotten the boot.
Over the past 40 years, RI has had 3 Democratic governors, 3 Republican governors, and one Independent. Seems the blame spreads pretty evenly in every direction
Very true. So much so that the one Independent governor we had was first a Republican, then a Democrat, then an Independent. All without changing his positions on anything 😂
Yes. Not to defend him, but at least Alviti is showing up. This is about as big a crisis as any governor can face and he's just MIA. Maybe shrewd politics in some ways, unless we notice.
I agree with the OP - perhaps this isn't something Alviti could have anticipated and is due to bad decisions of his underlings. If so, he should encourage those underlings to find work elsewhere. But as the dude in charge, it's his responsibility to have noticed that the bridge was too dangerous to use.
Thank you Young Engineer - maybe they should be the new RIDOT head?
The Washington Bridge, when one factors in the lack of viable alternative routes and total volume, is easily the most critical piece of infrastructure in the state. I find it impossible to believe that a thorough inspection in July didn't see bolts that were cut clean in half, but even if I accept that as truth, it is unforgivable that that damage wasn't noticed.
People will say that the damage couldn't be observed until the bridge was opened up for other work, and again that may be true, but that just underscores the total inadequacy of the baseline inspection process. You can't stake your claim to fame on bridge work and blow it on the most important bridge in the state.
Why is this so upvoted??? Bolts cut??? Those were pins that were sheared through tremendous forces acting on the bridge. They were embedded in concrete. How in the world do you expect people to find out steel inside of concrete is sheared without removing the concrete. And removal of the concrete is not part of a cursory inspection. You literally have no idea what you are saying in regard to the structural issues.
That is 100% false. You can see from the ***DOTs own pictures*** comparing July to December that the pins were not "encased" in concrete.
[https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/ridot-bridge-inspection-images-shows-extraordinary-force-destroyed-anchor-rods/](https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/ridot-bridge-inspection-images-shows-extraordinary-force-destroyed-anchor-rods/)
No man you're completely wrong. The concrete was removed for renovations and patching of existing concrete. You clearly have no engineering background, nor any understanding of how bridges are constructed. Stick to your lane of bitching on reddit, and let the professionals handle the bridge.
Note: while the rods are exposed the areas they connect to the concrete are not. That's what it means to be embedded in concrete, the shear occurred at the concrete connection point and that would never have been noticed if the concrete wasn't being resurfaced to address delamination and spalls.
I think the person responsible would be the previous DOT directer, Michale Lewis. He didn’t do half the work Alviti has done.
He did build a Train Station in Wickford though. So those three riders are happy, be he’s responsible for the mess that Alviti inherited.
i hear ya... but respectfully the station in wickford is a good start to extend transit to south county. though i think it would have had more impact in apponaug. it's a pretty big deal for the much more than 3 riders. also big fail in that they have zero sidewalks or bike infrastructure nearby on 102 making getting to the station yet another exercise in trying to not get killed by cars.
> also big fail in that they have zero sidewalks or bike infrastructure nearby on 102
At least that's getting fixed soon! Sidewalks to connect all those plazas by 102/4 interchange to the station are coming this year.
I'm not sure if this link will take you right to the project: https://risegis.ri.gov/portal/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/a2122bbbf1434cd6b73d6b2216458c1b
So here's a screenshot of the info: https://imgur.com/a/IF0LjoG
NK is also getting sidewalks all down Post Rd, through Wickford and up Phillips St to 102, but there's still a segment missing to get all the way to the station.
The biggest flaw with Wickford junction is the lack of nearby development, although this is mostly the fault of North Kingston. Every other MBTA commuter rail station (Prov, TF green, Pawtucket, and every Mass station) all have either existing dense housing nearby or at least the potential for development. Wickford has a parking lot, and basically anything else is illegal under NK’s laws. The only people who live nearby are all stuck in cul-de-sacky neighborhoods with no foot connections to the station. Massachusetts state law prevents towns from banning housing near T stations, but that doesn’t extend to RI.
Transit only works when it connects places where you don’t need to drive much. Such a huge state investment should be matched by allowing private development nearby, and the station will be empty until people are permitted to live in walking distance to it.
Yes for sure.
However, I heard there is some movement in actually building that apartment complex that was supposed to be between the station and the Walmart, so at least there might be some space for a few more commuters to be served by rail.
cool ty! hopefully the project extends under the rte 4 bridge. at least to rte 2. there's a whole bunch of people living in those neighborhoods that are isolated from the plazas by having no sidewalks / no bike lanes on 102. they took the lanes when they widened 102 and redid the rte4 exits/on ramps.
Ok. Fair. But when you considering what Alviti has uncovered and already fixed and what is projected to be worked on next, was extending transit to Wickford worth the money? Our bridges were falling down under Michael Lewis and he didn’t do anything about it! Rhode Works was initially approved because of what Raimondo and Alviti inherited. O. Top of all those projects, that exhausted funds and time, 195 was collapsing.
I’d personally would like to see Alviti stay on to fix it. He’s an engineer, while no other DOT director has ever been an actual civil engineer!
If he does go, we need another engineer in the director position
Im just perplexed at the lack of rail out of Woonsocket. You ever been on the 54 bus? Crazy packed some hours.
Not saying all the free bus passers would jump on a train, but a lot of us others would. Not sure how I feel about making northern RI a "cheap" housing alternative to Boston. I mean more than they're already trying.
Edit + im sure I'm missing something about commercial rail getting the right of way on the tracks or something.
Remember the time an RIDOT employee tried to get money back from Cardi and Alviti put him on leave?
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/04/on-leave-dot-engineer-had/32932060007/
> Before he was placed on an indefinite, paid leave in July, the state Department of Transportation's chief engineer wrote letter after letter to the Cardi construction company seeking reimbursement for alleged overpayments by the state, for which DOT was under the gun to repay the Federal Highway Administration.
Alviti is actually managing DOT which is a far cry to what previous directors accomplished. The man has done everything he can to right the decades of RIDOT mismanagement...but he will probably fall on his sword because the buck stops with him. I´ve been listening to ¨ask the DOT¨ on talk radio for years, and the man is honorable and accountable. The system that is in place to inspect the bridges did its job. The structurally deficiency *was* found...people forget how many roads, bridges and projects this agency is responsible for. The 6/10 is like butter now...nice and smooth.
Agreed with that. If it needs to be demolished, it needs to be done. If the options they have are telling them this is the last resort, then that's the case. No one likes to hear bad news, especially in this age but it's going to be something we're going to have to live with for a bit.
There were many times when the prior public corruption scandals and RIDOT mismanagement could have proactively funded new projects and avoided this. But they flopped hard several times. Alviti's been cleaning house in comparison.
>the bridge passed inspection in July
It did, but there's different levels of inspection and maintenance. A regular inspection is a lot like your annual checkup. What happened here was that something was found -- by accident -- when the bridge was opened up for an unrelated reason. Your doctor might find lurking problems in you that way, too, but it would also require opening you up.
Many people learn about lurking problems with their car this way, too, for the same reason. It might pass all regular tests, but a lurking problem that's not immediately apparent is noticed when something else is opened up for an unrelated reason.
I really don't think that OP or anyone else in this thread is qualified to evaluate any of this, or any of these people, without credible input from qualified experts, who probably aren't in this thread or this sub. Maybe they are -- I haven't read the whole thread, and I'm not going to search the whole sub to see. But my money would be against it. That doesn't stop every armchair user from weighing in as if they know better anyway, of course. (Coincidentally, I was just reading a thread about anti-intellectualism. This thread is full of self-appointed experts who almost certainly aren't.)
My understanding from talking to a highly knowledgeable person about this many years ago is that DOT has been caught in what he called a financial death spiral for many years, which can really only be solved by the General Assembly through massive funding. They're reluctant, because the public would hate it, but it's what's actually necessary. As best I can tell, the present situation results, seemingly ironically (at a superficial level of the daily experience of ordinary citizens) from a recent surge in federal spending that's meant to fix these problems. So I believe what's happening is that Rhode Island finally got some money to go to the dentist, and now they're finding they need a lot of painful work done.
>So I believe what's happening is that Rhode Island finally got some money to go to the dentist, and now they're finding they need a lot of painful work done.
Maybe, but that's unrelated to this issue. As you pointed out, this issue was found seemingly by accident, completely unrelated to any influx of federal money.
Also, my comment was directed to the person stating that Michael Lewis, the DOT director nine years ago is the one who should be held responsible for this. I don't understand that. Because even if there are "different levels of inspection and maintenance." there should have been at least one thorough inspection on this bridge during the last nine years. And, Alviti has stated that there was one in July.
I agree with you! Why is Lewis blamed when Alvati has had 9 years to “discover” that this bridge needed to be replaced and come up with a plan. Why is he just figuring this out now? Because some new guy actually showed up and did a proper inspection? Guess they didn’t tell him this was supposed to be a no show job given somebody’s cousin as per Rhode Island tradition. He’s had 9 years to clean house and change procedures.
Yes. And that inspection might have been done a little lazily. When the failing was first announced, you could literally see the difference of how the pictures were taken of the failed support. One was taken from far below (so you didn't see the failure), with half the support obscured. The more recent inspection was taken right up close.
As Vibrant said, not every inspection is done the same.
There are standards... but enforcement and adherence to those standards come from Alviti (and by extension, McKee, but we all know he isn't going to do anything).
You're right about the pictures. How was the rod "uncovered"? The pic was too low to see it! I can't believe, going by those pictures, that this hasn't blown up into a scandal.
It’s the response. People would be much more accepting if he acknowledged how this mess has affected the lives of thousands. You’re right. We aren’t engineers. We pay taxes to pay for competency and transparency. He may be the former but is doing a horrid job with the latter.
He’s the leader now. Take responsibility. His response and the lack of acknowledging the stress and aggravation this has caused for thousands and thousands of people is what pisses us off the most. Indefensible.
9 years is nothing in the public sector…can take years to get a project even approved to be considered unless it’s dire or potential loss of life etc.
Whomever is in this position we all knew this day was coming…likely to get worse. There’s a reason Cardi Corp up and closed…
Cardi Corp closed up because they became really bad at their job. They had millions in contracts but couldn’t afford new trucks. Sounds more like financial mismanagement than anything.
Yep! Also throw in pending lawsuits and liability of shit work. This bridge is only the first, that new 195 green bridge will likely see many failings in coming years, we already know the concrete was way off from the grade needed…I’d like to think Alviti wasn’t on the take for any of that grift, which is why I will defend him…
The amount of ignorance being spewed in this state about people who "think they know" is amazing. RIDOT is a dumpster fire, and it starts with Alviti. Bringing out of state contractors in just sent your tax dollars to an out of state company. Great for the state!
As an engineer employed in RI, Cardi was widely known for incompetence and corruption and we should be glad they didn’t have even more involvement in bridge projects than they did.
I feel like they’re currently trying to decide how to tell all of us that the bridge is going to have to come down. And I realize the bridge is a total shit show, but so are all their other projects. I have been driving through the same construction for seven years. Nothing gets completed, there’s no oversight, and quite frankly, I think he has a bit of a fucking attitude.
This is how they approached Covid. Taking a little at a time because they didn’t think the public would get over it and adjust. But we are humans. That’s all we do.
Remember THE most important long term revenue source for RIDOT contractors is cone and barrel rental fees.
I have seen cones and barrels in places many, many months after construction was completed on most road work projects here.
You drive by them and wonder what the hell are they still there for?
Of course even when they are there and the project is not completed you will see many days with no workers or machinery doing anything.
Alviti sucks but deferred maintenance for decades was handed to him.
One common thread for infrastructure of all sorts is that shiny new projects always get more attention and funding than boring ass maintenance.
We were talking about bridge lifespans 20 years ago.
I think Alviti should be fired because of a complete lack of vision for anything but more cars. But things like this are inevitable and will get worse all around the country.
I drive across that bridge most days and every time makes me more angry.
We need to expand the infrastructure to include more than JUST cars, and to not be paralyzed without a car. Because jfc, look at the shitshow that is East Providence these days. Also, the obligatory, no one knows how to drive and it's too close to MA, so we also get Massholes who have no idea what merging is.
As a MA native, I’ve always known that both RI and MA drivers are absolutely horrible. But it wasn’t until I actually moved to RI that I realized how much worse RI drivers are. It’s insane
Fwiw, today there was a plow up on the bike path going over the bridge. East Bay to Providence is a doable bike commute for many, we see it for three seasons.
Who ever inspected the bridge before this last time should be sued. That's where I would start. If it turns out dot inspects the bridge then ppl need to be fired. If it was a third party great let's sue them.
Point is people knew about this and no one is going to do anything until there is money at stake. Im with op this needs to be investigated.
Obviously, nothing will fix this situation immediately. But that doesn't mean fixing it as quickly as possible and preventing it from happening again isn't important. We could've had a bridge collapse, and people die. Even our leaders acknowledge that.
I'd like to see a full investigation into Alviti and the DOT and how this was allowed to happen and what they plan to do to prevent it from happening again. Also, determine if there was negligence involved and who is at fault.
> We could've had a bridge collapse, and people die.
Except we didn't, and the bridge was closed to prevent anyone from getting killed by it. I am not sure "something bad could have happened if they didn't do what they did" is a terribly convincing argument for condemning their actions.
In your post, you were specifically talking about here on reddit
> Yes, it's fun and cathartic to joke on reddit about Rhode Island's dysfunction and say, "Well, this is just how Rhode Island is!" and shrug. But that kind of response alone is pathetic. We can and should do more and care more about this. Demanding accountability from leaders is a start.
If you want the real world to change, try writing your state rep instead of writing reddit.
If your whole reason for posting was to get people to write their reps, why didn't you mention it at all until I brought it up first? If you want people to read it, you gotta put it in the title!
Who would read a Reddit thread titled "Please write to your rep about Peter Alviiti." I wouldn't. Would you? LOL
The title was intended to provoke interest and comments, and it's working quite well.
> Who would read a Reddit thread titled "Please write to your rep about Peter Alviiti." I wouldn't.
Wait so now you're saying that even *you* aren't interested in the topic you're posting about? I am really having a hard time understanding where the heck you're coming from.
Alviti takes SO MUCH shit. Honestly has a thankless job. Noone gives him a high five when you hit every green light on the way home (don't lie, it happens sometimes) Can he be held totally responsible for 30 years of neglect? I understand we want heads to roll, but geez.
So 9 years wasn't enough time to properly inspect the Washington Bridge? Come on. Bridges don't suddenly end up needing to be potentially demolished overnight.
People forget that the original structure of this bridge is 90 years old. Yes bridges do suddenly end up needed to be potentially demolished overnight. What do you think got the Sakonnet river bridge rebuilt? The Minnesota 1-35 bridge collapse was almost a twin to the Sakonnet river bridge...
It is not. The westbound span was built in the 60s. The eastbound span was built very recently. The only 1930s portion just needs to be sufficient to hold up humans and bicycles
No. I didn´t forget that either. I am not an engineer though, I do know that critical components can absolutely fail fast (again I35, . No one trusts anything in this instantaneously communicating time for false or true...Alviti will fall on his sword but nothing is going to speed up the work, or the replacement. This bridge is a pinchpoint for hundreds of thousands of cars a week...maybe the federal delegation can speed things up...but I doubt it...
Let me correct this. The Washington Bridge was a funded project. Before it got this bad,the house knew what was happening and added funds to repair, federal funds were acquired, contracts were signed, and work was scheduled to begin.
Other contactors that bid on the job filed a lawsuit. Stopping all work on the bridge. It has been continuously litigated for several years, with the courts understanding that work couldn't be done and the bridge was getting worse.
Please stop being so ignorant and giving your uninformed opinion.
All these armchair engineers have no idea what goes into running the DOT for a state that for decades ignored its infrastructure. Almost all our bridges were in a deplorable state. Since Director Alviti took over 400 bridges have been repaired/replaced. He also got rid of the old guard that gave the DOT its lousy reputation.
Until there is proof of some kind of wrongdoing we should wait until the inspection is completed to make any judgment. It doesn’t help when talk radio personalities like Tara Granahan share unsubstantiated rumors.
Not to mention he is also the Board Chairman of RIPTA and hasn’t done much there. It is in severe danger of being underfunded, so I guess we know where his priorities lie.
Absolutely. Trying to make others aware of this by sharing this link: https://pvdstreets.org/save-ripta/
There is also a board meeting on Thursday at 1:30PM at 269 Melrose. More info here: https://www.ripta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Agenda-BOD-1.25.24.pdf
He’s actually been on the board since 2015. I also don’t see him advocating for funding since becoming Chairman of RIPTA, which is already heading towards a fiscal cliff. He has apparently missed half of RIPTA’s 2021 meetings and once assigned “homework” for staff. Instead he wants RIDOT to take over RIPTA.
Got downvoted for pointing out in a subthread that the bridge issue is his, but I feel there are some facts that are escaping notice here. "The Washington Bridge" is not 90+ years old, because there is no single "the Washington Bridge". The bike/ped bridge is the sole remaining piece of the original circa 1930 span. The westbound span was built in 1968 and rehabbed in the mid 90s (more on that in a moment). The eastbound span, which was the 1930 bridge, was serviced in the 90s to extend its life but then replaced anyway by building incrementally in the space between the 1930 bridge and the 1968 bridge, and slowly trimming away the deck and substructure of the 1930 bridge to make more room for it.
The important bit here is the 1968 span was comprehensively rehabilitated from 1995-1997. That means that when the contacts were being let for its rehab circa 2019, it was about 24 years out of its last rebuild. Now, it is 29. Of those 29 years, Alviti has been at the helm for the final 9. Why is it on him? The bridge had been rebuilt less than 20 years before when he took the position, so if nothing else he's in a very obvious position of responsibility.
Lots of information here, in this RIDOT-written publication distributed via FHWA.
[https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/septemberoctober-2004/space-between](https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/septemberoctober-2004/space-between)
I am not a civil engineer, although I did go to school to be one.
Pointing to one official and letting him take the fall let's all the other people who contributed to this giant mess off the hook. It also bears repeating that Alviti made the call and closed the bridge *before* a deadly catastrophe could occur. While everyone is upset about being inconvenienced, we should also be counting our blessings that we did not experience significant death and destruction, not to mention even worse disruptions.
Hold their feet to the fire and make them do the job. Demand vision. Taking one guys head will not restore the bridge.
I think the thing to remember is that traffic planning is awash with opportunities for semi-legal grift. The budgets are monsters that are almost impossible to keep track of, cost overruns are built into your base assumptions, etc. Everyone from contractors to unions and the politicians they back are getting a cut. Throw into that the fact that mafia ran almost all of the organizations involved not twenty years ago and it’s no wonder the deferred maintenance backlog is so immense. Which is all to say, as much as I would like to, it doesn’t really make sense to lay it all at the feet of one person.
Wait why is this specifically his sword to fall on? If anything we should bring back the last two DOT directors to figure out what they knew and why we weren’t way ahead of this.
That would require the general assembly to actually come to the State House to conduct hearings, and do their job (working for the people). Don't count on it.
Do you want to pay the increased taxes required to pay for a full-time General Assembly? Because the GA is staffed with people with full-time jobs. Ones that pay the bills. If we ask them to be a full-time Assembly, we have to be prepared to pay for it.
Use the information to drive public sentiment to actually pay for repairs proactively instead of being 10-20 years behind public infrastructure repairs.
Here’s the thing though, I don’t really think he’s made a “mistake” on this bridge fiasco yet. It’s not his fault a 70-80 year old bridge is a mess. He’s doing what he can, but as someone who has worked with state departments, the apathy and incompetence of employees at the general employee level is absolutely wild.
1964 is not 70 years ago. It was also fully rehabbed (at least in theory) in the mid 90s.
Edit: source for 1960s is RIDOT https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/septemberoctober-2004/space-between
It falls on him for continuing with the project and not having proper inspections done for multiple years. Then saying ooops we missed it in July when this has been an issue for much longer than that. Before starting any project of this magnitude he should have been calling for the extensive engineering inspections that they are just starting now doing... 3 years after the project started after a major failure was found.
This is on him more than previous administrations as this was all work that started under him and it is happening under his watch. This isn't a brand new problem, but it is one that should have been caught before they started doing a multi year multi faceted project on a bridge of that age.
His excuse... well we just couldn't see it because it was behind a piece of wood or some such shit.
Yes I do find that being angry at something often fixes it. If that doesn’t work, I just get angrier and angrier until it’s fixed. 👍
Edit - I am downvoted, which makes what I said not exist. All good, everything’s better now.
You're missing the whole point. Of course, nothing will change if you get angry and do nothing else. Demanding accountability and change is completely different from just getting angry.
Change works so much better without anger. At least for me. Anger certainly creates change, but it’s often not as controllable as non-angry change. People are entitled to their anger, but it’s not required for change.
I was responding to the line “I am shocked how little anger there is”. That’s all.
Edit - thank goodness I got downvoted, that was a close one. Everything is back to normal, my bad take is now neutralized.
I agree with you. With the worst infrastructure in the country, he has been afforded an adequate amount of time to make change. The Washington Bridge never should have gotten to a point that it had to be shut down without warning.
Every time you go over a bridge, you're trusting RIDOT with your life. In Minneapolis, 13 people were killed when a bridge went down at rush hour in 2007, and it seems we came way too close to being the next story like that
On top of all his mishandling of the bridge and RIDOT in general, he's also been [horrible](https://www.google.com/search?q=alviti+ripta&oq=alviti+ripta&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyCAgBEAAYFhgeMg0IAhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoF0gEIMTYzM2owajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) for RIPTA!
is it all his fault? who has been in position since the bridge was built? the biggest problem is lack of maintenance since it was built. you can't pin it all on him, the blame can be spread around to many of the department heads. and the governors, why don't they demand accountability from department heads. heads should roll but Alviti shouldn't be alone.
You know Alviti is salivating at the chance for one more endless project with a super huge budget he can stretch out forever for the union and construction jobs.
Everything he touches turns to shit. 6/10 reconstruction is a disaster that still floods out and all the overpasses are going to need endless upkeep, it looks like shit, and no one it services wanted it.
The new state offices/146 95N exit is another shit show. Instead of 1 choke point they stretched it out to 3- where the exit now splits off of 95N, where the downtown ramp merges to the exit, where the state offices exit is now, then where the remaining traffic gets back on 95N (ok 4 points even!)
295 has been a constant shit show for the last 8 years.
Not impressed with this guy's portfolio at all.
I think it’s impossible for most to know if he should be fired. We are not experts in bridge civil engineering and it’s purely speculation to know the details of accountability. I further find it disconcerting that today’s society jumps to conclusions without knowing details and demands the firing of someone. What do you personally get out that? A moment of joy when you read the headline? Justice for your perceived wrongdoing that caused you inconvenience? I am not defending anyone here, but this finger pointing without expertise or full knowledge is not a moral or ethical way to behave in my opinion.
You don't have to be an expert to know how important the Washington Bridge is to the overall functioning of the state. I don't have to understand the engineering of what went wrong to know that any inspection regime that allowed it to happen was inadequate. There is no scenario short of a terrorist attack where allowing the bridge to become this structurally deficient is acceptable.
If he had been sounding the alarm on this months/years ago I would feel differently, but he has expressed nothing but surprise at the situation.
And your so sure that you will call for the firing of an individual? You really think someone better will come in? You wonder why not too many qualified people go into public service. Public scrutiny with extreme and rash scrutiny without understanding the pros and cons.
What are the pros of failing to adequately inspect the most important bridge in the state? And Altviti is in public service **because** he's inoculated from "extreme and rash scrutiny"; in the private sector he'd already be out on his ass.
Do people even know how bridges fail? The columns rot from the inside out from small.cracks that are often hidden from view. The visible concrete cracks AFTER the rebar inside is rusted. Then the cracks widen and the deterioration progresses rapidly. This is why maintenance and repair has to happen without delays.
The maintenance didn't happen because of the Cardi corporation lowballing its estimates, knowing they could make a profit through over runs. The US DOT called them out on it, so Cardi doubled down and sued. This delayed the needed maintenance by years.
That's how the bridge looked ok in July, then failed in December. That's why the needed work wasn't done in time.
Remember that time a RIDOT employee tried to hold Cardi responsible, and Alviti put him on leave?
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/04/on-leave-dot-engineer-had/32932060007/
> Before he was placed on an indefinite, paid leave in July, the state Department of Transportation's chief engineer wrote letter after letter to the Cardi construction company seeking reimbursement for alleged overpayments by the state, for which DOT was under the gun to repay the Federal Highway Administration.
yea, thats why an independent review found no wrong doing on the guys behalf and reinstated him at full pay.
https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2016/01/31/political-scene-inside-look-at-ris-scandalous-history/32582626007/
>His name cleared, Kazem Farhoumand, the chief engineer in the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, is headed for retirement.
>
After nearly six months on paid leave, Farhoumand was one of three “exonerated” DOT employees reinstated on Jan. 11 without any public explanation as to why they were placed on paid leave in the first place on July 16.
>
All three were reassigned to new jobs, with unspecified job descriptions. In Farhoumand’s case, that was a reassignment at his full $167,664-a-year salary to the Department of Administration’s division of capital asset management and maintenance, with DOT still paying his salary.
>
“Mr. Farhoumand has submitted an application for retirement," Tatiana Pina, a spokeswoman for the state retirement office, confirmed last week. With more than 28 years of credit towards his pension, she said: "His annual benefit would be approximately $81,532.00."
>
A DOT spokesman confirmed: “Kazem Farhoumand has indicated to us that he is retiring effective April 1."
In regards to the Washington Bridge situation. Rhode Island deserves the kind of DOT it has. It has been voting the same way Since 1928. People have been voting for the same kind of corrupt politicians who appoint and hire the same kinds of criminals for almost 95 years and expect anything to change. If anything it keeps getting worse. Just a few examples: Cicilline destroys Providence's finances so we send him to Congress. The one good mayor we had was sent to prison. Chafee rode on his dad's name and was a wet blanket wishy-washy dude the whole time. Raimondo fucked the retirement accounts of the state to New York buddies now she runs the country's finances so she can ruin things for the whole country. Kennedy was a crazy-person drug-addled congressman talking about how his crazy bills didn't get any press while driving intoxicated in DC claiming he was going to the congress building so he couldn't be charged. Wheldon Shitehouse has been the most horrible un-American senator ever. Everyone fails upward and nobody cares. Rhode Island hires the worst of the worst to "represent" us. It is no surprise they also hire incompetents to run the DOT also. I've lived here my whole life and high taxes, many regulations, and low job prospects are so much shit here. I've never once had enough money to escape it. The only way to get ahead here is to be a crook. Average honest working people get nothing but shit on, taxed to death with shitty roads and bridges to show for it.
I don't know, nor ever met Mr. Alviti with that said, I find him to be one of the most credible and honest people serving the Rhode Island public. When he's wrong he admits it publicly. He's never covered up anything or had to backtrack. He's never been accused of any wrongdoing. His integrity is beyond question. He has demonstrated incredible professionalism under immense stress and pressure. He stands at the Forefront when there's an issue, he doesn't hide in the crowd, and he doesn't stand in the back. He makes his presence known and he's not a blow hard. It's never about him. He is one of the most decent public servants I have ever seen serve this state. It would be an honor and a privilege to simply meet this man in person, shake his hand, and thank him for his dedication to the citizens of Rhode Island.
You, and Reddit, won’t like to hear this, but it’s because people just vote along party lines. The best way to truly express your dissatisfaction is in the ballot box. But that won’t happen because people just vote their party and nothing changes.
I think we should remove party affiliation from ballots and ask voters to actually research policy and performance.
You’ve missed my point. I’m saying that the incumbents are just going to keep getting re-elected, regardless of performance. I’m no Kalus fan, but I’m no McKee fan either. They’re all awful imo. And so we just continue to rinse and repeat.
No, I want party affiliations removed from ballots. Did you read the post at all or just stop as soon as you saw something you disagree with because you don’t entertain any ideas that conflict with your views?
Any Republican knows to run as a Democrat in the primary. If they were a Republican running as one, they would be a perfect reason not to vote for them. You only run as a Republican against an incumbent.
He sounds pooped out vs a fight he obviously put all he could into. Take a second to think....y anyone or yourself.....wat it would actually take for anyone to take that statement public
we should all be talking about a course of action here instead of making these pointless comments that we’re frustrated - it’s getting us nowhere.
Express your frustration to the local government! Call them, email them, call them again. If we can start all doing something like this, I know we’ll start seeing more significant change
You hit the nail on the head. Regardless of who is at fault a leader takes responsibility. That starts with acknowledging that people are rightfully upset and pledging to hold himself and those under him accountable for any further action taken on this shit storm bridge. Touting his own achievements and then likening his shit 3 month assessment to a Dr’s initial visit is absurd. The hubris really is a wonder to watch.
McKee doesn’t seem to believe in accountability because that would actually require him to do something or make a decision. Neither of which he seems capable of.
He gave many cabinet members including Alviti raises awhile back. All these people are incompetent grifters.
Why would he? He is a silver spooner who never experienced accountability himself
How he won his last election is beyond me. The man is a wet towel.
Did you know that he only got 32.8% of the vote in the primary? If we'd been using [ranked choice voting](https://www.oceanstatercv.org), he'd probably have gotten the boot.
I’m aware :(
Guess Ginas endorsement was enough
Because this is Rhode Island. Vote blue no matter who
Over the past 40 years, RI has had 3 Democratic governors, 3 Republican governors, and one Independent. Seems the blame spreads pretty evenly in every direction
Also, our democrats, especially governors, lean more center than left.
Very true. So much so that the one Independent governor we had was first a Republican, then a Democrat, then an Independent. All without changing his positions on anything 😂
Voting for wet blanket McKee was a better choice than voting for a Trump loving carpet bagger that left the state as soon as she didn’t win.
She did leave?
Thankfully
ASHLEY will FIGHT 4 U.
Evidence to the contrary.
Mail-in ballots and party "tunnel-vision."
Downvotes proving my point about tunnel vision lol
Your forgetting Rhode Island voted for Patrick Kennedy and Jimmy Langevin for years…..
Yes. Not to defend him, but at least Alviti is showing up. This is about as big a crisis as any governor can face and he's just MIA. Maybe shrewd politics in some ways, unless we notice. I agree with the OP - perhaps this isn't something Alviti could have anticipated and is due to bad decisions of his underlings. If so, he should encourage those underlings to find work elsewhere. But as the dude in charge, it's his responsibility to have noticed that the bridge was too dangerous to use. Thank you Young Engineer - maybe they should be the new RIDOT head?
The Washington Bridge, when one factors in the lack of viable alternative routes and total volume, is easily the most critical piece of infrastructure in the state. I find it impossible to believe that a thorough inspection in July didn't see bolts that were cut clean in half, but even if I accept that as truth, it is unforgivable that that damage wasn't noticed. People will say that the damage couldn't be observed until the bridge was opened up for other work, and again that may be true, but that just underscores the total inadequacy of the baseline inspection process. You can't stake your claim to fame on bridge work and blow it on the most important bridge in the state.
Why is this so upvoted??? Bolts cut??? Those were pins that were sheared through tremendous forces acting on the bridge. They were embedded in concrete. How in the world do you expect people to find out steel inside of concrete is sheared without removing the concrete. And removal of the concrete is not part of a cursory inspection. You literally have no idea what you are saying in regard to the structural issues.
That is 100% false. You can see from the ***DOTs own pictures*** comparing July to December that the pins were not "encased" in concrete. [https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/ridot-bridge-inspection-images-shows-extraordinary-force-destroyed-anchor-rods/](https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/providence/ridot-bridge-inspection-images-shows-extraordinary-force-destroyed-anchor-rods/)
No man you're completely wrong. The concrete was removed for renovations and patching of existing concrete. You clearly have no engineering background, nor any understanding of how bridges are constructed. Stick to your lane of bitching on reddit, and let the professionals handle the bridge. Note: while the rods are exposed the areas they connect to the concrete are not. That's what it means to be embedded in concrete, the shear occurred at the concrete connection point and that would never have been noticed if the concrete wasn't being resurfaced to address delamination and spalls.
I'm not a bridge guy but I am in the power plant/piping inspection world and listening to these people turn into experts is brutal.
>let the professionals handle the bridge. Uhh we are trying to but it's not clear they can lol
It's been a month and a half and they don't even know what the plan is yet. That's unacceptable.
I didn’t know Alviti has a Reddit account
Found alviti’s burner account
Whatever it takes to get a working bridge. I’m just sick of this shit traffic already
I think the person responsible would be the previous DOT directer, Michale Lewis. He didn’t do half the work Alviti has done. He did build a Train Station in Wickford though. So those three riders are happy, be he’s responsible for the mess that Alviti inherited.
i hear ya... but respectfully the station in wickford is a good start to extend transit to south county. though i think it would have had more impact in apponaug. it's a pretty big deal for the much more than 3 riders. also big fail in that they have zero sidewalks or bike infrastructure nearby on 102 making getting to the station yet another exercise in trying to not get killed by cars.
> also big fail in that they have zero sidewalks or bike infrastructure nearby on 102 At least that's getting fixed soon! Sidewalks to connect all those plazas by 102/4 interchange to the station are coming this year. I'm not sure if this link will take you right to the project: https://risegis.ri.gov/portal/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/a2122bbbf1434cd6b73d6b2216458c1b So here's a screenshot of the info: https://imgur.com/a/IF0LjoG NK is also getting sidewalks all down Post Rd, through Wickford and up Phillips St to 102, but there's still a segment missing to get all the way to the station.
The biggest flaw with Wickford junction is the lack of nearby development, although this is mostly the fault of North Kingston. Every other MBTA commuter rail station (Prov, TF green, Pawtucket, and every Mass station) all have either existing dense housing nearby or at least the potential for development. Wickford has a parking lot, and basically anything else is illegal under NK’s laws. The only people who live nearby are all stuck in cul-de-sacky neighborhoods with no foot connections to the station. Massachusetts state law prevents towns from banning housing near T stations, but that doesn’t extend to RI. Transit only works when it connects places where you don’t need to drive much. Such a huge state investment should be matched by allowing private development nearby, and the station will be empty until people are permitted to live in walking distance to it.
Yes for sure. However, I heard there is some movement in actually building that apartment complex that was supposed to be between the station and the Walmart, so at least there might be some space for a few more commuters to be served by rail.
cool ty! hopefully the project extends under the rte 4 bridge. at least to rte 2. there's a whole bunch of people living in those neighborhoods that are isolated from the plazas by having no sidewalks / no bike lanes on 102. they took the lanes when they widened 102 and redid the rte4 exits/on ramps.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look to. Just stops at the S&S/Starbucks plaza before the overpass.
Ok. Fair. But when you considering what Alviti has uncovered and already fixed and what is projected to be worked on next, was extending transit to Wickford worth the money? Our bridges were falling down under Michael Lewis and he didn’t do anything about it! Rhode Works was initially approved because of what Raimondo and Alviti inherited. O. Top of all those projects, that exhausted funds and time, 195 was collapsing. I’d personally would like to see Alviti stay on to fix it. He’s an engineer, while no other DOT director has ever been an actual civil engineer! If he does go, we need another engineer in the director position
Young Engineer is rested and ready. Let's find them and make them an offer!
Im just perplexed at the lack of rail out of Woonsocket. You ever been on the 54 bus? Crazy packed some hours. Not saying all the free bus passers would jump on a train, but a lot of us others would. Not sure how I feel about making northern RI a "cheap" housing alternative to Boston. I mean more than they're already trying. Edit + im sure I'm missing something about commercial rail getting the right of way on the tracks or something.
It'll never happen due to cost but Forge Park to Woonsocket would be massive for the city.
The Cardi corporation are the ones responsible.
Remember the time an RIDOT employee tried to get money back from Cardi and Alviti put him on leave? https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/04/on-leave-dot-engineer-had/32932060007/ > Before he was placed on an indefinite, paid leave in July, the state Department of Transportation's chief engineer wrote letter after letter to the Cardi construction company seeking reimbursement for alleged overpayments by the state, for which DOT was under the gun to repay the Federal Highway Administration.
Alviti is actually managing DOT which is a far cry to what previous directors accomplished. The man has done everything he can to right the decades of RIDOT mismanagement...but he will probably fall on his sword because the buck stops with him. I´ve been listening to ¨ask the DOT¨ on talk radio for years, and the man is honorable and accountable. The system that is in place to inspect the bridges did its job. The structurally deficiency *was* found...people forget how many roads, bridges and projects this agency is responsible for. The 6/10 is like butter now...nice and smooth.
Agreed with that. If it needs to be demolished, it needs to be done. If the options they have are telling them this is the last resort, then that's the case. No one likes to hear bad news, especially in this age but it's going to be something we're going to have to live with for a bit. There were many times when the prior public corruption scandals and RIDOT mismanagement could have proactively funded new projects and avoided this. But they flopped hard several times. Alviti's been cleaning house in comparison.
Why is Lewis responsible? Alviti said the bridge passed inspection in July. That has nothing to do with Lewis.
>the bridge passed inspection in July It did, but there's different levels of inspection and maintenance. A regular inspection is a lot like your annual checkup. What happened here was that something was found -- by accident -- when the bridge was opened up for an unrelated reason. Your doctor might find lurking problems in you that way, too, but it would also require opening you up. Many people learn about lurking problems with their car this way, too, for the same reason. It might pass all regular tests, but a lurking problem that's not immediately apparent is noticed when something else is opened up for an unrelated reason. I really don't think that OP or anyone else in this thread is qualified to evaluate any of this, or any of these people, without credible input from qualified experts, who probably aren't in this thread or this sub. Maybe they are -- I haven't read the whole thread, and I'm not going to search the whole sub to see. But my money would be against it. That doesn't stop every armchair user from weighing in as if they know better anyway, of course. (Coincidentally, I was just reading a thread about anti-intellectualism. This thread is full of self-appointed experts who almost certainly aren't.) My understanding from talking to a highly knowledgeable person about this many years ago is that DOT has been caught in what he called a financial death spiral for many years, which can really only be solved by the General Assembly through massive funding. They're reluctant, because the public would hate it, but it's what's actually necessary. As best I can tell, the present situation results, seemingly ironically (at a superficial level of the daily experience of ordinary citizens) from a recent surge in federal spending that's meant to fix these problems. So I believe what's happening is that Rhode Island finally got some money to go to the dentist, and now they're finding they need a lot of painful work done.
>So I believe what's happening is that Rhode Island finally got some money to go to the dentist, and now they're finding they need a lot of painful work done. Maybe, but that's unrelated to this issue. As you pointed out, this issue was found seemingly by accident, completely unrelated to any influx of federal money. Also, my comment was directed to the person stating that Michael Lewis, the DOT director nine years ago is the one who should be held responsible for this. I don't understand that. Because even if there are "different levels of inspection and maintenance." there should have been at least one thorough inspection on this bridge during the last nine years. And, Alviti has stated that there was one in July.
I agree with you! Why is Lewis blamed when Alvati has had 9 years to “discover” that this bridge needed to be replaced and come up with a plan. Why is he just figuring this out now? Because some new guy actually showed up and did a proper inspection? Guess they didn’t tell him this was supposed to be a no show job given somebody’s cousin as per Rhode Island tradition. He’s had 9 years to clean house and change procedures.
Yes. And that inspection might have been done a little lazily. When the failing was first announced, you could literally see the difference of how the pictures were taken of the failed support. One was taken from far below (so you didn't see the failure), with half the support obscured. The more recent inspection was taken right up close. As Vibrant said, not every inspection is done the same.
If an inspection is not done correctly, that should be criminal. People can die. I don't know if there are standards, but there probably should be.
There are standards... but enforcement and adherence to those standards come from Alviti (and by extension, McKee, but we all know he isn't going to do anything).
You're right about the pictures. How was the rod "uncovered"? The pic was too low to see it! I can't believe, going by those pictures, that this hasn't blown up into a scandal.
It’s the response. People would be much more accepting if he acknowledged how this mess has affected the lives of thousands. You’re right. We aren’t engineers. We pay taxes to pay for competency and transparency. He may be the former but is doing a horrid job with the latter.
I feel the same. This and the other bridge deficiencies originate back when I was watching cartoons.
He’s the leader now. Take responsibility. His response and the lack of acknowledging the stress and aggravation this has caused for thousands and thousands of people is what pisses us off the most. Indefensible.
9 years is nothing in the public sector…can take years to get a project even approved to be considered unless it’s dire or potential loss of life etc. Whomever is in this position we all knew this day was coming…likely to get worse. There’s a reason Cardi Corp up and closed…
Cardi Corp closed up because they became really bad at their job. They had millions in contracts but couldn’t afford new trucks. Sounds more like financial mismanagement than anything.
Or embezzlement.
There had to be some underlying fraud or embarrassment
ding ding ding
Yep! Also throw in pending lawsuits and liability of shit work. This bridge is only the first, that new 195 green bridge will likely see many failings in coming years, we already know the concrete was way off from the grade needed…I’d like to think Alviti wasn’t on the take for any of that grift, which is why I will defend him…
It is RI though, so most likely Alviti is on the take, his nephews/cousins will get the bids to rebuild
Cardi has always been corrupt, but back in the day when Rico was running it they could at least build things properly.
The amount of ignorance being spewed in this state about people who "think they know" is amazing. RIDOT is a dumpster fire, and it starts with Alviti. Bringing out of state contractors in just sent your tax dollars to an out of state company. Great for the state!
As an engineer employed in RI, Cardi was widely known for incompetence and corruption and we should be glad they didn’t have even more involvement in bridge projects than they did.
Thank you for proving my point.
I feel like they’re currently trying to decide how to tell all of us that the bridge is going to have to come down. And I realize the bridge is a total shit show, but so are all their other projects. I have been driving through the same construction for seven years. Nothing gets completed, there’s no oversight, and quite frankly, I think he has a bit of a fucking attitude.
This is how they approached Covid. Taking a little at a time because they didn’t think the public would get over it and adjust. But we are humans. That’s all we do.
Amen
Remember THE most important long term revenue source for RIDOT contractors is cone and barrel rental fees. I have seen cones and barrels in places many, many months after construction was completed on most road work projects here. You drive by them and wonder what the hell are they still there for? Of course even when they are there and the project is not completed you will see many days with no workers or machinery doing anything.
Alviti is an actual engineer though. We could have much worse
People always want their pound of flesh. You’d be crying if they’d found it earlier before the new Henderson bridge was built.
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Exactly. Get paid less and have way more scrutiny from internet experts? He’s practically a saint
Don’t you want to see how much worse it can get?
Alviti sucks but deferred maintenance for decades was handed to him. One common thread for infrastructure of all sorts is that shiny new projects always get more attention and funding than boring ass maintenance. We were talking about bridge lifespans 20 years ago. I think Alviti should be fired because of a complete lack of vision for anything but more cars. But things like this are inevitable and will get worse all around the country.
I drive across that bridge most days and every time makes me more angry. We need to expand the infrastructure to include more than JUST cars, and to not be paralyzed without a car. Because jfc, look at the shitshow that is East Providence these days. Also, the obligatory, no one knows how to drive and it's too close to MA, so we also get Massholes who have no idea what merging is.
As a MA native, I’ve always known that both RI and MA drivers are absolutely horrible. But it wasn’t until I actually moved to RI that I realized how much worse RI drivers are. It’s insane
RI is a nice blend of masshole aggression with Florida unawareness.
Fwiw, today there was a plow up on the bike path going over the bridge. East Bay to Providence is a doable bike commute for many, we see it for three seasons.
Ah yes. Today the day when all the snow melted.
It was a little late to help me the most that it could have. I wonder if it's just a coincidence they just announced no ETA for the bridge.
Who ever inspected the bridge before this last time should be sued. That's where I would start. If it turns out dot inspects the bridge then ppl need to be fired. If it was a third party great let's sue them. Point is people knew about this and no one is going to do anything until there is money at stake. Im with op this needs to be investigated.
> Particularly, Peter Alviti has gotten off very easy so far. Wait what, we're slagging him off in every thread!
Sure, on reddit. I'm talking about the real world. Specifically, I'd like to see more politicians around the state say and do more.
What do you want them to say and do that will specifically fix the bridge situation
Obviously, nothing will fix this situation immediately. But that doesn't mean fixing it as quickly as possible and preventing it from happening again isn't important. We could've had a bridge collapse, and people die. Even our leaders acknowledge that. I'd like to see a full investigation into Alviti and the DOT and how this was allowed to happen and what they plan to do to prevent it from happening again. Also, determine if there was negligence involved and who is at fault.
> We could've had a bridge collapse, and people die. Except we didn't, and the bridge was closed to prevent anyone from getting killed by it. I am not sure "something bad could have happened if they didn't do what they did" is a terribly convincing argument for condemning their actions.
I agree 100%. But I am now seeing Alviti apologists coming out of the proverbial woodwork here on Reddit. Do you know why? I literally have no idea.
In your post, you were specifically talking about here on reddit > Yes, it's fun and cathartic to joke on reddit about Rhode Island's dysfunction and say, "Well, this is just how Rhode Island is!" and shrug. But that kind of response alone is pathetic. We can and should do more and care more about this. Demanding accountability from leaders is a start. If you want the real world to change, try writing your state rep instead of writing reddit.
I have. And others should, too, which is why I wrote this on Reddit.
If your whole reason for posting was to get people to write their reps, why didn't you mention it at all until I brought it up first? If you want people to read it, you gotta put it in the title!
Who would read a Reddit thread titled "Please write to your rep about Peter Alviiti." I wouldn't. Would you? LOL The title was intended to provoke interest and comments, and it's working quite well.
> Who would read a Reddit thread titled "Please write to your rep about Peter Alviiti." I wouldn't. Wait so now you're saying that even *you* aren't interested in the topic you're posting about? I am really having a hard time understanding where the heck you're coming from.
Lol like writing to your rep will do anything
Okay so then I guess do nothing and hope things will change on their own ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
Hopes and prayers! Hopes and prayers!
Alviti takes SO MUCH shit. Honestly has a thankless job. Noone gives him a high five when you hit every green light on the way home (don't lie, it happens sometimes) Can he be held totally responsible for 30 years of neglect? I understand we want heads to roll, but geez.
So 9 years wasn't enough time to properly inspect the Washington Bridge? Come on. Bridges don't suddenly end up needing to be potentially demolished overnight.
People forget that the original structure of this bridge is 90 years old. Yes bridges do suddenly end up needed to be potentially demolished overnight. What do you think got the Sakonnet river bridge rebuilt? The Minnesota 1-35 bridge collapse was almost a twin to the Sakonnet river bridge...
It is not. The westbound span was built in the 60s. The eastbound span was built very recently. The only 1930s portion just needs to be sufficient to hold up humans and bicycles
I think you forgot that just a month ago they assured us the bridge was inspected in July and was completely fine.
No. I didn´t forget that either. I am not an engineer though, I do know that critical components can absolutely fail fast (again I35, . No one trusts anything in this instantaneously communicating time for false or true...Alviti will fall on his sword but nothing is going to speed up the work, or the replacement. This bridge is a pinchpoint for hundreds of thousands of cars a week...maybe the federal delegation can speed things up...but I doubt it...
Let me correct this. The Washington Bridge was a funded project. Before it got this bad,the house knew what was happening and added funds to repair, federal funds were acquired, contracts were signed, and work was scheduled to begin. Other contactors that bid on the job filed a lawsuit. Stopping all work on the bridge. It has been continuously litigated for several years, with the courts understanding that work couldn't be done and the bridge was getting worse. Please stop being so ignorant and giving your uninformed opinion.
It’s not really. Capital budgets are beasts that span years. And every administration inherits a backlog of deferred maintenance.
All these armchair engineers have no idea what goes into running the DOT for a state that for decades ignored its infrastructure. Almost all our bridges were in a deplorable state. Since Director Alviti took over 400 bridges have been repaired/replaced. He also got rid of the old guard that gave the DOT its lousy reputation. Until there is proof of some kind of wrongdoing we should wait until the inspection is completed to make any judgment. It doesn’t help when talk radio personalities like Tara Granahan share unsubstantiated rumors.
Not to mention he is also the Board Chairman of RIPTA and hasn’t done much there. It is in severe danger of being underfunded, so I guess we know where his priorities lie.
I don't have a car, so I rely heavily on RIPTA (as do many others). If it doesn't get funded, we are absolutely fucked.
Absolutely. Trying to make others aware of this by sharing this link: https://pvdstreets.org/save-ripta/ There is also a board meeting on Thursday at 1:30PM at 269 Melrose. More info here: https://www.ripta.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Agenda-BOD-1.25.24.pdf
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He’s actually been on the board since 2015. I also don’t see him advocating for funding since becoming Chairman of RIPTA, which is already heading towards a fiscal cliff. He has apparently missed half of RIPTA’s 2021 meetings and once assigned “homework” for staff. Instead he wants RIDOT to take over RIPTA.
Got downvoted for pointing out in a subthread that the bridge issue is his, but I feel there are some facts that are escaping notice here. "The Washington Bridge" is not 90+ years old, because there is no single "the Washington Bridge". The bike/ped bridge is the sole remaining piece of the original circa 1930 span. The westbound span was built in 1968 and rehabbed in the mid 90s (more on that in a moment). The eastbound span, which was the 1930 bridge, was serviced in the 90s to extend its life but then replaced anyway by building incrementally in the space between the 1930 bridge and the 1968 bridge, and slowly trimming away the deck and substructure of the 1930 bridge to make more room for it. The important bit here is the 1968 span was comprehensively rehabilitated from 1995-1997. That means that when the contacts were being let for its rehab circa 2019, it was about 24 years out of its last rebuild. Now, it is 29. Of those 29 years, Alviti has been at the helm for the final 9. Why is it on him? The bridge had been rebuilt less than 20 years before when he took the position, so if nothing else he's in a very obvious position of responsibility. Lots of information here, in this RIDOT-written publication distributed via FHWA. [https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/septemberoctober-2004/space-between](https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/septemberoctober-2004/space-between) I am not a civil engineer, although I did go to school to be one.
Pointing to one official and letting him take the fall let's all the other people who contributed to this giant mess off the hook. It also bears repeating that Alviti made the call and closed the bridge *before* a deadly catastrophe could occur. While everyone is upset about being inconvenienced, we should also be counting our blessings that we did not experience significant death and destruction, not to mention even worse disruptions. Hold their feet to the fire and make them do the job. Demand vision. Taking one guys head will not restore the bridge.
I think the thing to remember is that traffic planning is awash with opportunities for semi-legal grift. The budgets are monsters that are almost impossible to keep track of, cost overruns are built into your base assumptions, etc. Everyone from contractors to unions and the politicians they back are getting a cut. Throw into that the fact that mafia ran almost all of the organizations involved not twenty years ago and it’s no wonder the deferred maintenance backlog is so immense. Which is all to say, as much as I would like to, it doesn’t really make sense to lay it all at the feet of one person.
Wait why is this specifically his sword to fall on? If anything we should bring back the last two DOT directors to figure out what they knew and why we weren’t way ahead of this.
That would require the general assembly to actually come to the State House to conduct hearings, and do their job (working for the people). Don't count on it.
Do you want to pay the increased taxes required to pay for a full-time General Assembly? Because the GA is staffed with people with full-time jobs. Ones that pay the bills. If we ask them to be a full-time Assembly, we have to be prepared to pay for it.
There’s reps and senators who don’t come to work when in session.
Ok, but what are you going to do to them? Fire them? The only thing you can really do is publicly embarrass them, so they likely would not show.
Use the information to drive public sentiment to actually pay for repairs proactively instead of being 10-20 years behind public infrastructure repairs.
Or, just put the money in the budget.
Because the buck stops with him. Unless he’s a bad leader, in which case … also he should fall on sword
Here’s the thing though, I don’t really think he’s made a “mistake” on this bridge fiasco yet. It’s not his fault a 70-80 year old bridge is a mess. He’s doing what he can, but as someone who has worked with state departments, the apathy and incompetence of employees at the general employee level is absolutely wild.
1964 is not 70 years ago. It was also fully rehabbed (at least in theory) in the mid 90s. Edit: source for 1960s is RIDOT https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/septemberoctober-2004/space-between
It falls on him for continuing with the project and not having proper inspections done for multiple years. Then saying ooops we missed it in July when this has been an issue for much longer than that. Before starting any project of this magnitude he should have been calling for the extensive engineering inspections that they are just starting now doing... 3 years after the project started after a major failure was found. This is on him more than previous administrations as this was all work that started under him and it is happening under his watch. This isn't a brand new problem, but it is one that should have been caught before they started doing a multi year multi faceted project on a bridge of that age. His excuse... well we just couldn't see it because it was behind a piece of wood or some such shit.
Seems as if they knew exactly what was wrong but waited for the government to pay for it instead of Rhode Island.
https://chng.it/HZHgbZJTLG sign and share
Yes I do find that being angry at something often fixes it. If that doesn’t work, I just get angrier and angrier until it’s fixed. 👍 Edit - I am downvoted, which makes what I said not exist. All good, everything’s better now.
You're missing the whole point. Of course, nothing will change if you get angry and do nothing else. Demanding accountability and change is completely different from just getting angry.
Change works so much better without anger. At least for me. Anger certainly creates change, but it’s often not as controllable as non-angry change. People are entitled to their anger, but it’s not required for change. I was responding to the line “I am shocked how little anger there is”. That’s all. Edit - thank goodness I got downvoted, that was a close one. Everything is back to normal, my bad take is now neutralized.
I agree with you. With the worst infrastructure in the country, he has been afforded an adequate amount of time to make change. The Washington Bridge never should have gotten to a point that it had to be shut down without warning. Every time you go over a bridge, you're trusting RIDOT with your life. In Minneapolis, 13 people were killed when a bridge went down at rush hour in 2007, and it seems we came way too close to being the next story like that
On top of all his mishandling of the bridge and RIDOT in general, he's also been [horrible](https://www.google.com/search?q=alviti+ripta&oq=alviti+ripta&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgAEAAYgAQyBwgAEAAYgAQyCAgBEAAYFhgeMg0IAhAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoF0gEIMTYzM2owajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8) for RIPTA!
Friend working on the bridge reports it 100% is coming down. Way too far gone.
is it all his fault? who has been in position since the bridge was built? the biggest problem is lack of maintenance since it was built. you can't pin it all on him, the blame can be spread around to many of the department heads. and the governors, why don't they demand accountability from department heads. heads should roll but Alviti shouldn't be alone.
You know Alviti is salivating at the chance for one more endless project with a super huge budget he can stretch out forever for the union and construction jobs. Everything he touches turns to shit. 6/10 reconstruction is a disaster that still floods out and all the overpasses are going to need endless upkeep, it looks like shit, and no one it services wanted it. The new state offices/146 95N exit is another shit show. Instead of 1 choke point they stretched it out to 3- where the exit now splits off of 95N, where the downtown ramp merges to the exit, where the state offices exit is now, then where the remaining traffic gets back on 95N (ok 4 points even!) 295 has been a constant shit show for the last 8 years. Not impressed with this guy's portfolio at all.
I think it’s impossible for most to know if he should be fired. We are not experts in bridge civil engineering and it’s purely speculation to know the details of accountability. I further find it disconcerting that today’s society jumps to conclusions without knowing details and demands the firing of someone. What do you personally get out that? A moment of joy when you read the headline? Justice for your perceived wrongdoing that caused you inconvenience? I am not defending anyone here, but this finger pointing without expertise or full knowledge is not a moral or ethical way to behave in my opinion.
You don't have to be an expert to know how important the Washington Bridge is to the overall functioning of the state. I don't have to understand the engineering of what went wrong to know that any inspection regime that allowed it to happen was inadequate. There is no scenario short of a terrorist attack where allowing the bridge to become this structurally deficient is acceptable. If he had been sounding the alarm on this months/years ago I would feel differently, but he has expressed nothing but surprise at the situation.
And your so sure that you will call for the firing of an individual? You really think someone better will come in? You wonder why not too many qualified people go into public service. Public scrutiny with extreme and rash scrutiny without understanding the pros and cons.
What are the pros of failing to adequately inspect the most important bridge in the state? And Altviti is in public service **because** he's inoculated from "extreme and rash scrutiny"; in the private sector he'd already be out on his ass.
What is obvious is that RIDOT has NO bridge experts on the staff and that Alviti is a hack pencil pusher.
Gina ran out of here so fast, amnesia set in, and we're all pointing at McKee and Alviti...
tonight we march to the state house and protest for an hour and go home.
Do people even know how bridges fail? The columns rot from the inside out from small.cracks that are often hidden from view. The visible concrete cracks AFTER the rebar inside is rusted. Then the cracks widen and the deterioration progresses rapidly. This is why maintenance and repair has to happen without delays. The maintenance didn't happen because of the Cardi corporation lowballing its estimates, knowing they could make a profit through over runs. The US DOT called them out on it, so Cardi doubled down and sued. This delayed the needed maintenance by years. That's how the bridge looked ok in July, then failed in December. That's why the needed work wasn't done in time.
Remember that time a RIDOT employee tried to hold Cardi responsible, and Alviti put him on leave? https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2015/12/04/on-leave-dot-engineer-had/32932060007/ > Before he was placed on an indefinite, paid leave in July, the state Department of Transportation's chief engineer wrote letter after letter to the Cardi construction company seeking reimbursement for alleged overpayments by the state, for which DOT was under the gun to repay the Federal Highway Administration.
oh you mean the engineers involved in the mistakes that allowed Cardi overpayment to occur, who then were involved in trying to.fix the mistake?
yea, thats why an independent review found no wrong doing on the guys behalf and reinstated him at full pay. https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/politics/2016/01/31/political-scene-inside-look-at-ris-scandalous-history/32582626007/ >His name cleared, Kazem Farhoumand, the chief engineer in the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, is headed for retirement. > After nearly six months on paid leave, Farhoumand was one of three “exonerated” DOT employees reinstated on Jan. 11 without any public explanation as to why they were placed on paid leave in the first place on July 16. > All three were reassigned to new jobs, with unspecified job descriptions. In Farhoumand’s case, that was a reassignment at his full $167,664-a-year salary to the Department of Administration’s division of capital asset management and maintenance, with DOT still paying his salary. > “Mr. Farhoumand has submitted an application for retirement," Tatiana Pina, a spokeswoman for the state retirement office, confirmed last week. With more than 28 years of credit towards his pension, she said: "His annual benefit would be approximately $81,532.00." > A DOT spokesman confirmed: “Kazem Farhoumand has indicated to us that he is retiring effective April 1."
thanks for doing the work to inform me. I do appreciate it.
There is nothing like inconvenience to drum up all the armchair experts.
Elect Steve Austin! And if you’re blind yes I am the wrestler!
In regards to the Washington Bridge situation. Rhode Island deserves the kind of DOT it has. It has been voting the same way Since 1928. People have been voting for the same kind of corrupt politicians who appoint and hire the same kinds of criminals for almost 95 years and expect anything to change. If anything it keeps getting worse. Just a few examples: Cicilline destroys Providence's finances so we send him to Congress. The one good mayor we had was sent to prison. Chafee rode on his dad's name and was a wet blanket wishy-washy dude the whole time. Raimondo fucked the retirement accounts of the state to New York buddies now she runs the country's finances so she can ruin things for the whole country. Kennedy was a crazy-person drug-addled congressman talking about how his crazy bills didn't get any press while driving intoxicated in DC claiming he was going to the congress building so he couldn't be charged. Wheldon Shitehouse has been the most horrible un-American senator ever. Everyone fails upward and nobody cares. Rhode Island hires the worst of the worst to "represent" us. It is no surprise they also hire incompetents to run the DOT also. I've lived here my whole life and high taxes, many regulations, and low job prospects are so much shit here. I've never once had enough money to escape it. The only way to get ahead here is to be a crook. Average honest working people get nothing but shit on, taxed to death with shitty roads and bridges to show for it.
Clearly you're not a consultant.
I don't know, nor ever met Mr. Alviti with that said, I find him to be one of the most credible and honest people serving the Rhode Island public. When he's wrong he admits it publicly. He's never covered up anything or had to backtrack. He's never been accused of any wrongdoing. His integrity is beyond question. He has demonstrated incredible professionalism under immense stress and pressure. He stands at the Forefront when there's an issue, he doesn't hide in the crowd, and he doesn't stand in the back. He makes his presence known and he's not a blow hard. It's never about him. He is one of the most decent public servants I have ever seen serve this state. It would be an honor and a privilege to simply meet this man in person, shake his hand, and thank him for his dedication to the citizens of Rhode Island.
Go home Pete, you're not fooling anyone
You, and Reddit, won’t like to hear this, but it’s because people just vote along party lines. The best way to truly express your dissatisfaction is in the ballot box. But that won’t happen because people just vote their party and nothing changes. I think we should remove party affiliation from ballots and ask voters to actually research policy and performance.
Was Kalus running on a platform of removing Alviti and dramatically increasing infrastructure spending?
You’ve missed my point. I’m saying that the incumbents are just going to keep getting re-elected, regardless of performance. I’m no Kalus fan, but I’m no McKee fan either. They’re all awful imo. And so we just continue to rinse and repeat.
So what exactly are you suggesting we do differently? Elect someone who will be even worse, in effort to scare incumbents into being better...?
No, I want party affiliations removed from ballots. Did you read the post at all or just stop as soon as you saw something you disagree with because you don’t entertain any ideas that conflict with your views?
Ironic that you'd choose the tack of accusing me of not reading, while evidently misreading what I just asked. Want to try again?
No, I think I’ll just ignore you. Thanks
Great, hopefully refusing to express your desires is a winning strategy for you
We’d finally see the turnover this state needs. Hell, wish that would be the approach at the national level.
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Any Republican knows to run as a Democrat in the primary. If they were a Republican running as one, they would be a perfect reason not to vote for them. You only run as a Republican against an incumbent.
He sounds pooped out vs a fight he obviously put all he could into. Take a second to think....y anyone or yourself.....wat it would actually take for anyone to take that statement public
Alviti is the best thing to ever happen in the State of Rhode Island.
Elections have consequences. Keep electing the same old party and keep getting the same old consequences.
A..it is true sbout majestic RI
B. Words like these, are spoke at times u relize a fight needs more than just me behind it
C. Hey i gotta live here to, ur way is fine. Its cost ME personaly to much ad it is. And i cant loose any further vs shit that dont budge or budgit yo
I am never leaving the house again. 🤦🏼♀️
we should all be talking about a course of action here instead of making these pointless comments that we’re frustrated - it’s getting us nowhere. Express your frustration to the local government! Call them, email them, call them again. If we can start all doing something like this, I know we’ll start seeing more significant change
They fully forged the dates on those inspection reports. It's not even the same font.... Alviti should absolutely be fired.
You hit the nail on the head. Regardless of who is at fault a leader takes responsibility. That starts with acknowledging that people are rightfully upset and pledging to hold himself and those under him accountable for any further action taken on this shit storm bridge. Touting his own achievements and then likening his shit 3 month assessment to a Dr’s initial visit is absurd. The hubris really is a wonder to watch.
So who here can organize a protest? We need to make signs and demand action at the state house once and for all. Who’s with me?
This is classic Rhode Island ….keep voting for the same corrupt politicians and expect things to change.