PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Engineers at the R.I. Department of Transportation privately acknowledged the section of the Washington Bridge that triggered its sudden closure had been hard to see until construction work made it “noticeable,” according to internal emails newly obtained by Target 12.

On Tuesday, RIDOT sent Target 12 more than 200 pages of documents in response to a request under Rhode Island’s Access to Public Records Act. RIDOT required a $300 payment from Target 12 in exchange for the documents, citing a provision in state law that allows agencies to charge for records requests.

The emails shed light on state officials’ frantic efforts to triage the crisis in the days after Alviti announced the sudden closure of the westbound bridge span on the evening of Dec. 11. (The eastbound span is a separate bridge.) Alviti initially said the bridge could reopen in roughly three months, but the closure is now indefinite, and federal authorities have begun investigating.

The complete story is at wpri.com.