PROVIDENCE — Repairs to the 110-year-old East Side Bus Tunnel will cost more and take longer than previously expected, according to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.
RIPTA closed the tunnel in March for planned improvements to its drainage, lighting, and steel beams, but contractors found additional damage after the construction started, capital project manager John Plouffe told the agency’s board at a meeting Thursday afternoon.
After a layer of sprayed concrete, known as “shotcrete,” was removed from the tunnel, Plouffe said they discovered stress cracks they hadn’t known existed, likely caused by water seeping in from above and through the removed layer.
Plouffe said RIPTA knew about 2,000 feet of cracks and leaks, but the demolition uncovered 10 times more. He went before the board to request about $7.5 million to fix them, on top of the original $15 million price tag for the project.
Members of the public and board asked questions about how further cracks might be prevented, and Plouffe said he was working with Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (both own property on top of the tunnel) to ensure their drainage won’t impact the tunnel. He also said shotcrete will not be used in the tunnel again, so that cracks will be visible if they happen in the future.
RIPTA initially scheduled the project to finish in September, but Plouffe said the additional work will likely delay the opening until later in the fall.
Only buses and emergency vehicles can travel through the tunnel, which goes underneath a portion of College Hill from North Main Street to Thayer Street — lessening the steep gradient up to the neighborhood from downtown. The tunnel was originally built in 1914 to accommodate trolleys and last underwent significant repairs in the 1990s.
Interim RIPTA CEO Chris Durand said the tunnel is not only important for operation of the bus lines that usually travel through it; because it is dedicated to bus travel, it helps bring in special Federal Transit Administration funds, totaling about $5 million every year.
“This is a one-off,” board chair and Rhode Island Department of Transportation director Peter Alviti said. “We don’t have tunnels all over the state that you’re using, right? So it becomes more of a challenge, it being a kind of a unique piece of infrastructure for you to maintain. Its age contributes to that and the activities in a very urbanized area over it that are ever changing.”
Alviti said he would ask RIPTA in the future to think about whether additional levels of exploration should be taken prior to a project starting, so that total cost can be an upfront discussion.
The board voted to approve the change order and additional funding.