The Henderson Bridge (known by some locals as the New Red Bridge) is a bridge in Rhode Island which spans the Seekonk River, connecting the cities of Providence and East Providence.
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The bridge was opened in 1969 to replace the old Red Bridge and was also part of a planned Route 44 freeway that would have extended from the Gano Street interchange with Interstate 195 (whose ramps were built specifically for the Route 44 freeway), along the west shore of the river, over the bridge, then along a never-built section of freeway in East Providence, returning to Route 44 just east of Route 114 and Route 1A. Since the freeway was never completed, the section that was built was not given a route number. Curiously, the freeway's right-of-way in East Providence is completely cleared to its planned end at Route 44. The bridge was named after its designer, George Henderson, of Rumford, R.I..
There is a large area of woods and trails under and around the East Providence side of the bridge. These are often used by dirtbikers for recreational use.
On April 17, 2008, it was reported that the bridge requires $50 million worth of repairs, but the state only had $3.3 million to allocate. Some problems noted are cracks in the concrete pier caps & rusting steel beams. RIDOT chief engineer Kazem Farhoumand has stated that steel reinforcements can be bolted on to the steel beams to make them "good for another 5 or 10 years." [1]
http://www.ri.gov/press/view.php?id=9194