Sue First, Discover Later: State Drops a Second Washington Bridge Defendant and Asks to Push Trial Into 2028

What happened

On Monday, Oct. 5, WPRI’s Target 12 confirmed that the state will dismiss Aries Support Service Inc., a local engineering and construction firm, from its lawsuit over the failed westbound Washington Bridge. Aries is the second of the original 13 defendants dropped this year. Commonwealth Engineers & Consultants was let go in June. Both were dismissed without prejudice, and Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office gave the same reason both times: “discovery produced by defendants to date… highlights the central role of other defendants.” Eleven companies remain.

WPRI also reports that the state asked the court last week for a six-month extension of all remaining discovery deadlines and the trial date. The state cited the volume of discovery a judge ruled it must turn over to the defense. The trial had been expected in late 2027, and the extension would push it into 2028. The state’s lawyers also said they plan to amend the complaint by Oct. 7 to answer a defense first raised at a Sept. 2 hearing. In their words, that defense “may materially reshape one of the core issues in this action: whether the bridge was salvageable.” No hearing on the extension has been scheduled.

Some background: Gov. Dan McKee’s administration sued 13 contractors and engineers in August 2024, promising a “day of reckoning” for the bridge’s sudden closure in December 2023. The defendants have blamed the state, arguing that RIDOT officials had decades of inspection data and bore ultimate responsibility for the bridge. Discovery has been a fight from the start. In June, Judge Brian Stern appointed retired Judge Netti Vogel as a special master to settle the disputes. Defendants told the court that about 84% of the state’s document production arrived in April and May 2026, nearly a year after AECOM’s first request. In July, Barletta/Aetna said the state had produced only seven emails and seven text messages from Gov. McKee, all from December 2023 to April 2024. It also said there were no texts at all from Deputy Chief of Staff Joseph Almond, and none from anyone for the administration’s first two and a half years. AECOM separately sought emails from RIDOT Chief of Staff John Igliozzi.

Meanwhile, the bill keeps growing. WPRI reports that bridge-crisis costs have passed $200 million and are expected to top half a billion dollars by the time the replacement span opens, now projected for November 2028.