BALTIMORE — Maryland transportation leaders approved a contract Thursday to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, months after the 1.6-mile steel span was completed. collapsed under the impact of a huge container ship that lost power and collided with one of its support pillars.
Immediately after the deadly March 26 collapse, officials vowed to quickly rebuild the bridge – a long standing Baltimore landmark and an essential part of the transport infrastructure.
They quoted a Completion date 2028 and estimated that the project would cost $1.7 billion and would include significantly more protection for the pier to better protect it from future runaway ships.
During a monthly meeting on Thursday morning, the Maryland Transportation Authority board awarded a $73 million contract for the first phase of the project to Kiewit Infrastructure, which calls itself “one of the largest and most respected engineering and construction organizations in North America.”
According to Bruce Gartner, director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, the contract award is a major step forward in the recovery and rebuilding process.
“This is really an order of magnitude larger than any of our previous milestones,” he said in an interview Thursday. He said the agency hopes to release renderings of a preliminary design within the next few months that will give the public an idea of what the new bridge will look like.
Kiewit was founded in 1884 to provide masonry services in Omaha, Nebraska, according to its website. Notable past projects include the Fort McHenry Tunnel under Baltimore Harbor, which opened in 1985. More motorists have been using the tunnel since the bridge collapse eliminated one of three water crossings that allowed them to bypass downtown Baltimore.
Gartner said the state had worked with Kiewit before and the company had managed the construction of major water crossings involving marine activities, similar to the Key Bridge.
“We look forward to working with the Maryland Transportation Authority, many local subcontractors and suppliers, and our strong workforce to safely build and restore this vital transportation link in the city of Baltimore and the region,” the company said in a statement Thursday.
When announcing their recommendation to the council, state transport officials said the company’s proposal ranked first in terms of technical content, despite being slightly more expensive than other proposals.
Officials said the project will proceed in two phases, with the first focusing on design work and other necessary steps before construction begins, which could include demolition of the remaining sections of the bridge that are still standing. Phase one is expected to be completed within a year.
Kiewit will have “exclusive negotiating rights” for the second phase, transportation officials said in a statement after the board meeting. “In the event that a guaranteed maximum price is not agreed upon, the MDTA will provide the work under a separate contracting mechanism,” the statement said.
Officials have said the new bridge will be slightly higher than the old one to accommodate increasingly larger ships entering Baltimore Harbor. The original Key Bridge took five years to build and opened in 1977.
The March Bridge collapse killed six members of a road crew who were filling holes in the bridge when it fell into the water below. Baltimore’s busy Port of Baltimore was closed for months after the collapse, and increased traffic congestion in the region continues to be a problem for motorists.
An FBI investigation is underway into the circumstances leading up to the collapse, including power outage happened to the cargo ship Dali while it was still docked in Baltimore.
The state transportation board also approved a proposal Thursday to transfer proceeds from a recent $350 million insurance payout to the federal government, calling the decision a show of good faith as discussions continue over whether the federal government will cover 100 percent of the costs of cleanup and rebuilding. Chubb, the company that insured the bridge, has made the $350 million payout to the state, officials said this week.
The ongoing lawsuit will ultimately determine other matters liability assignments when the bridge collapsed, which could become one of the costliest maritime disasters in U.S. history.
The federal government typically pays 90% of the cost and the state 10% when replacing highways and bridges damaged by disasters. But the Biden administration and members of Maryland’s congressional delegation are pushing for Congress to approve a 100% reimbursement.
Officials expect federal taxpayers to eventually cover the cost of replacing the bridge through insurance payments and compensation, but that could take some time.
___
Associated Press editor Brian Witte contributed from Annapolis.