Sakonnet River Bridge

Some History on the Bridge from Wikipedia:
~~ The Sakonnet River Bridge is a four-lane truss bridge spanning the Sakonnet River in eastern Rhode Island. The bridge carries RI 24 and RI 138 between the communities of Portsmouth and Tiverton, RI. The bridge is scheduled to be replaced by an updated design, with construction work scheduled to finish in 2015.

The Sakonnet River Bridge was built in 1956 as a replacement for the Stone Bridge, about 0.8 mi (1.3 km) to the south, destroyed during Hurricane Carol in August 1954. It became part of RI 24 during the 1960s after the completion of the Portsmouth and Tiverton Expressways. At one point, it was briefly considered for inclusion as part of the never-built Interstate 895.

The bridge is closed to heavy commercial vehicles weighing over 18 tons. Vehicles over this weight limit are rerouted over the Mount Hope bridge via RI 136/114. ~~

Here is the website for status and updates pertaining to the Sakonnet River Bridge but it seems amazingly lacking and the blinking text hurts my brain.

Info from Haley & Aldrich:
The replacement of the Sakonnet River Bridge, which carries nearly 40,000 cars per day and provides a critical transportation system link between Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is necessary to meet current highway design standards for shoulder width and structural capacity. The new $120 million, 3,160-ft-long, 4-lane bridge will be built along an alignment located immediately south of the existing bridge, which will remain in operation during construction. The entire design period was compressed into 21 months to meet a special Federal Garvey funding deadline. RIDOT has completed a value engineering review, and plans to advertise for construction bids in Fall 2008, and award the project by Spring 2009. The new bridge is expected to open in 2011.

It's finally not split!!! FINALLY!!! North bound on 24 after crossing the Sakonnet River Bridge there had been a lane split around a cement pillar for the cross over road above. Coming up to this it always seemed strange to me, why the hell is there a pillar in the middle of the highway?? Turns out it's part of the new bridge upgrade going on but seemed that the split was there for over 2 years, maybe longer. In the picture above from Haley & Aldrich you can see where the old Stone Bridge used to stand in the background. The new pilings that they are putting in for the new bridge are located between the current Sakonnet River Bridge and the land masses for the old Stone Bridge, just to give you an idea for the new location. They say 2011 is when the new bridge is expected to open. I'll keep you posted!