JOHNSTON, R.I. (WPRI) -- State officials said Thursday contractors can resume some prep work for demolishing the closed westbound Washington Bridge, days after the project was abruptly halted for legal reasons. On Monday, R.I. Department of Transportation spokesperson Charles St. Martin told Target 12 that in cooperation with the state's legal team, engineers had "reached the point in the demolition" where work had to be paused to preserve evidence” in an ongoing legal battle. Last month, the state filed a lawsuit against 13 companies, accusing them of failing to identify the bridge’s “worsening structural issues.” "The goal is to be able to continue demolition as swiftly as possible while ensuring important evidence is preserved," St. Martin said on Monday night. When asked how soon that would be, St. Martin referred questions to the state's legal team. St. Martin told Target 12 on Thursday that engineers from RIDOT and the state's legal team were finalizing procedures for evidence preservation, which would help to determine when full demolition could resume. RELATED: Community reacts to pause on Washington Bridge demolition Questions have been raised about Aetna Bridge Company, which won the contract to demolish the bridge despite being one of the 13 companies sued by the state over its prior work on the bridge. Gov. Dan McKee told reporters at an unrelated event in Johnston on Thursday that Aetna was under the guidance of engineers. "There's engineers that are determining what we're protecting, in terms of evidence. And we're making sure that that happens," McKee said. "So, there's a check and balance in place." The governor said that the legal team's request to halt work didn’t come in until after the demolition work began. He said he did not believe that the pause in demolition would delay the rebuild of the bridge. "I think we can proceed on the things that predated Dec. 11 when I made the decision that we would shut down the bridge for safety reasons," McKee said. No companies came forward when the state sought bids to build a new bridge earlier this year. McKee said Thursday he expects to announce a strategy "very shortly" to make a second attempt at identifying a contractor to do the project. Alexandra Leslie ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook.