Feds Assume Responsibility for Providence Barrier

The federal government is taking control of a hurricane barrier that protects Providence from flooding.

City officials formally handled the title to the barrier Friday to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Congress now requires the Army corps to operate the 3,000-foot span and appropriated money to repair it. The 50-year-old barrier cost the city of Providence about half a million dollars in maintenance annually.

It was built after hurricanes flooded downtown Providence in 1938 and 1954, causing millions of dollars in damage.