Bids open for new Sakonnet River bridge

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A Rhode Island company has submitted the lowest bid to build a new bridge over the Sakonnet River.

The Rhode Island Department of Transportation opened bidding Wednesday. Cardi Corp., the only Ocean State company to compete, submitted the low $163.7 million bid to replace the rusting steel bridge.

Officials say the contract is the department's biggest when measured in dollars.

The bridge connects Tiverton to Aquidneck Island and is a vital link between southern Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts.

It is part of a much larger $600 million Interstate 195 relocation project.

The agency's chief engineer, Kazem Farhoumand, tells The Providence Journal that the goal is to award a construction contract in April and complete the project in 2012.