Costs more than double to rebuild vital Baltimore bridge destroyed by cargo ship

By Michelle Watson, CNN

(CNN) — The expected price tag to rebuild Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge – the overpass that collapsed and left six dead – has more than doubled and is expected to be completed later than what authorities previously said, according to a release on Monday.

The Maryland Transportation Authority on Monday said in a release the updated cost estimate is now projected to be $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion, with an expected opening in late 2030 – a two-year delay from the earlier estimate.

That price tag is more than double the previous expected cost of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion, that the Maryland Department of Transportation previously confirmed to CNN.

The bridge – a vital artery for traffic heading into the Port of Baltimore and a major hub for imports and exports of commodities – fell apart after a cargo ship hit one of its pillars in the early hours of March 26, 2024.

The container ship, Dali, suffered a pair of catastrophic electrical failures minutes before the crash, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency is expected to hold a public board meeting Tuesday about its investigation into what caused the ship to hit the bridge.

“Preliminary cost and project time estimates were made less than two weeks after the initial crash and before any engineering or design studies were conducted,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement Monday.

“Since then, national economic conditions have deteriorated and material costs have increased. At the same time, elevated costs have resulted from federal design and resilience standards — not discretionary state choices,” he said.

NTSB preliminary report findings

As many as 35,000 cars and trucks per day traveled across Baltimore’s bridge, also known as the Key Bridge.

In the early morning of March 26, 2024, two power outages occurred three ships’ lengths from the bridge and were triggered by the tripping of two critical circuit breakers, which caused several pumps required for the ship’s single propeller and its single rudder to stop working, a preliminary report from the NTSB said.

The emergency generator was not configured to power the ship, the agency added.

The ship at the time of the failure was under the control of an apprentice pilot, who was accompanied by a senior pilot. When the pilots boarded, the captain reported the ship was in good working order, according to the report. NTSB investigators said the crewmembers tested negative for drugs and alcohol, and the fuel tested negative for contaminants three times.

The six construction workers who fell to their death were immigrants from four countries – Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala.

Then-President Joe Biden said he was committed to helping rebuild the bridge as soon as possible and said the federal government would bear the costs.

In his statement Monday, Moore said his administration will continue to provide updates and rebuild, “as safely, quickly, and efficiently as possible.”

“We will continue to work with the Trump Administration to find ways to reduce costs and rebuild faster,” Moore said. “And we will keep Marylanders continuously apprised of construction progress.”

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