The price tag for replacing Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge has risen as much as $3 billion more than previously estimated and so has the time it will take to complete it, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority.
The MDTA now forecasts a total cost at $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion and expects to open the new bridge to traffic in late 2030. The preliminary estimate was $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion with opening in 2028. The groundbreaking for the new bridge is expected in early 2026.
Acting Transportation Secretary and MDTA Chair Samantha J. Biddle said the new estimate accounted for higher material costs compared to the preliminary estimate, which came two weeks after the bridge collapsed in March 2024 following a ship strike. That estimate was required at the time for the state to receive federal emergency relief funding. The federal government will ultimately foot the bill for 100% of the cleanup costs from the collapse.
The new estimate also includes plans for a “robust pier protection system designed to protect the new Key Bridge and reduce the likelihood of a future ship strike,” she said.
Part of the increasing cost includes a longer main span (now 1,665 feet long) and taller main piers to accommodate larger ships and meet new bridge guidelines from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The pier protection system for the planned 230-foot-tall bridge will include fenders larger than a football field. The protection system will be supported by 276 eight-foot-tall, concrete-filled steel piles.
The Key Bridge collapsed March 26, 2024, after the cargo ship Dali lost power twice in the Baltimore Port channel and crashed into it. The collapse killed six construction workers who were on the bridge.
The bridge collapse brought several lawsuits against the ship’s owners, Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the two companies in September 2024 and settled for over $100 million.
MDTA cited the Federal Highway Administration when saying construction costs have risen approximately 72% in the last five years, driven by inflation, higher labor costs and ongoing market uncertainty.
The state of Maryland is also suing the Dali’s owner and manager to recoup the cost of the damages, as well as the cost of building a new bridge.
The new estimate was released a day before a final report from the National Transportation Safety Board identified the cause of the ship’s deadly crash: a loose wire.
