Traffic on the Mount Hope Bridge will be stopped in both directions at several points between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. this Wednesday, Aug. 5, while crews carry out two large lifts tied to the bridge's dehumidification project.
The Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, the quasi-state agency that operates the bridge, issued the alert on Jul 31st. The Town of Portsmouth passed it along to residents in a civic alert posted Monday. The authority warns that significant delays are expected during the five-hour window, though it has not published estimated wait times or queue projections.
The work is weather permitting. No backup date has been announced, and no threshold has been given for when marginal conditions would push the lifts to another day. Drivers who need to cross Wednesday morning would be wise to check RITBA's travel alerts page before leaving.
Local sponsorAffordable photography lessons in Newport, Jamestown, or your town.E.L. Photo RIWhat the two lifts accomplish is not spelled out in the public alerts. They are described only as part of the dehumidification project, which has been underway since Jan 20th.
What the project does
The dehumidification system pumps dry, conditioned air into the bridge's steel cables and anchorages. The purpose is to hold down moisture inside those enclosed spaces and slow internal corrosion on a structure that opened to traffic on October 24, 1929. The bridge's 700-ton main cables carry most of its weight, and corrosion and moisture have weakened them over nearly a century.
The work is paid for in part through a federal PROTECT grant. When the funding was announced, the offices of U.S. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Jack Reed said the improvements are expected to extend the life of the bridge by 50 to 75 years. Whitehouse's office also noted that the bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is one of only three connections from the mainland to Aquidneck Island and the only one from the East Bay.
That is the practical reason Wednesday matters. Anyone driving from Bristol, Warren or Barrington toward Portsmouth and Newport on Route 114 has no East Bay alternative to this crossing.
The rest of August
Wednesday is not the only disruption on the calendar. Alternating lane closures — one lane open, traffic taking turns — continue on weekdays, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays. Overnight surface repairs are scheduled for Sundays through the month, running 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., also weather permitting. The overnight work falls outside most commuting hours but does touch overnight deliveries and around-the-clock services.
The lane closures were originally expected to wrap up in April. In a June update, RITBA Executive Director Lori Caron Silveira said the schedule had slipped: "We had hoped to open both lanes of travel by now, but for the safety of the workers and to ensure that the project remains on schedule, we expect to continue alternating lane closures through the end of the 2026 construction season." She said the authority is "adding equipment and personnel to better manage the flow of traffic over the bridge." Speaking to the Portsmouth Business Association's annual meeting later that month, Silveira said lane reductions tied to the project will be needed into 2027.
Scrutiny in the background
The bridge has drawn sustained attention since the sudden closure of the Washington Bridge in December 2023. Bristol filed a complaint in federal court in March after RITBA denied the town's public records request for the bridge's 2024 inspection report; lawyers for the town wrote that Bristol sought the document "realizing the vital importance of the Mount Hope Bridge to the Town." RITBA released the report in July. Engineers had recommended more than a dozen repairs, several flagged as priority items.
Silveira has said the inspection process is designed to identify "even minor maintenance needs long before they become larger concerns," and that "every finding is evaluated, prioritized, and either addressed immediately by our maintenance team or incorporated into our capital improvement program."
Mount Hope Bridge Watch, a group of East Bay residents that tracks the structure's condition, has questioned the pace. The group notes that priority items from the 2024 report are being designed as part of a larger repair package, with a contract potentially awarded in late 2026 — meaning roughly two years between the findings and the start of work.
The lifts are set for Wednesday between 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Weekday lane closures resume the next morning at 9.