Recently released emails shed light on what engineers at the Rhode Island Department of Transportation knew about the damage to the westbound side of the Washington Bridge.
Through a recent Access to Public Records Act request, RIDOT released some 200 pages of information.
These showed that some of the rods holding up the span at the sixth and seventh piers had failed and that others had deteriorated.
These issues, the messages further noted, were hard to spot until recent construction work revealed them.
The westbound side of the bridge has been closed since December 11th, and RIDOT is conducting its own investigation.
(Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Photo: Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images News / Getty Images