U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Kimberly Reaves photo
The M/V Dali is shown with the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge on March 30, 2024, in Baltimore.
Calling all bridge builders.
The state of Maryland has opened its call for the design and construction of a replacement for the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and teams have until June 24 to put together a package for selection.
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) sent out its request May 31 for proposals for the new span, which is expected to cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion. The prospective builder — which will likely be a team composed of several companies — will be selected "mid-to-late summer," the MDTA said in a news release.
Officials with the agency hopes construction will begin in 2025 and that by the fall of 2028 a new structure over the Patapsco River will be complete, the Baltimore Sun reported.
Under normal circumstances, there would be years of study and design ahead of a bridge construction project, but time is of the essence with this project. Baltimore and the surrounding region feel the loss of the Key Bridge each day and its effects on its traffic and commerce.
Between now and 2028, there is much to do.
Wreckage from the old bridge — which the container ship Dali knocked down March 26, killing six construction workers and choking commerce to the Port of Baltimore by blocking the shipping channel — remains in the river, as do standing portions of the structure.
There also is the matter of design as planning for a bridge typically takes years. To expedite the procedure in this case, the team chosen to build the structure will design as it goes in a "progressive design-build" process.
"The beauty of this design-build is that we can do some of these things concurrently," said MDTA Chief Engineer James Harkness in an interview with the Sun. "We can get under way with activities out there at the bridge site while we're still designing some things."
The original steel truss bridge was built in 1977, but the new one is likely to be cable-stayed — a design that, among other advantages, can create a longer central span. Its architecture also can help prevent future vessel collisions by adding a support pier, such as what happened with the Dali after it lost power in the early overnight hours of March 26.
Cable-stayed bridges are "fairly standard" today, Maryland Secretary of Transportation Paul Wiedefeld told the Baltimore newspaper. Ultimately, though, he said it is "up to the design-builder" to make the decision.
In the end, Maryland transportation officials will select the design-build team.
"It'll be a state contract, basically," Wiedefeld said, "It'll be our professionals in the engineering and construction world that will do it."
The design-build process will be done in two phases, the first of which will focus on "project scope." The selected builder will then have exclusive negotiating rights for the second, lengthier phase, which will include "final design/engineering and construction."
An Exact Cause of Bridge Collision Has Yet to Be Found
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is still investigating the events leading up to the Dali collision with the Key Bridge to determine exactly what went wrong.
In the days, weeks and months since the disaster shocked the region and the shipping world, authorities have located the bodies of the men who were killed, refloated the Dali, and worked to clear the channel of debris. Meanwhile, vehicular traffic in Baltimore has worsened as one of only three arteries — the other two being tunnels — across the harbor is gone.
President Joe Biden has promised that the new bridge will be entirely paid for with federal funds. Some of that money could later be recouped from any party found responsible for the disaster, but a litigious battle over who is at fault is expected to take several years.
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