Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, members of Congress tour Key Bridge rebuild construction

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the Francis Scott Key Bridge will be built on time, on budget, and with safety in mind, calling it a national priority.

He said he is encouraged by the speed and progress so far with the construction.

Members of the Maryland Congressional delegation as well as other members of Congress joined Moore on a tour of the Key Bridge construction zone Monday morning. 

The federal officials asked questions of Moore and the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) about the extended timeline and rising costs.

Moore said the team working on the bridge has been ahead of schedule in other phases, including clearing the federal channel of debris in just 11 weeks and designing the bridge in months instead of years. 

He said the rebuild is one of the fastest-moving infrastructure projects in the country and is holding firm on a 2030 reopening date.

"It is going to have additional safety precautions and mechanisms that were not there when the original bridge was built. It will have to be larger because it has to accommodate larger ships," Moore said. "I know when people say, well, that's ambitious to say you're going to build a bridge that's safer and bigger and build it faster than what was done before, the answer is it is ambitious."

Progress of the Key Bridge rebuild

MDTA said as many as 100 workers are on the water daily working, which includes driving piles into the Patapsco River to build the foundation for bridge support and pier protection.

As price estimates rose to $9 billion and the timeline extended, the state released contractor Kiewit in April. 

Since then, the MDTA determined the project will be split into four contracts.

One contract will be for demolition of the remaining elements of the collapsed bridge, two are separate deals for rebuilding the roadways leading to the bridge, and another to construct the main cable-stay span over the water.

The state said the most costly contractor will be around $3.5 billion to $4 billion to construct the over-the-water section of the bridge. The minimum clearance from the bridge deck to the federal channel will be 230 feet.

Timeline on the Key Bridge rebuild

By dividing the contracts, the state hopes the project timeline also speeds up.

"We're looking to actually be able to the new team to be able to innovate that and drive that price down," Jim Harkness, chief engineer for MDTA, told the members of Congress.

The price tag for the project is still between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion. Preliminary estimates in 2024 were just short of $2 billion to rebuild the bridge.

In the months following the Key Bridge collapse, state officials had hoped for the rebuild to be completed by the fall of 2028, but that is now extended to 2030.

Members of Congress say they want this process to be transparent after the federal government committed to footing the bill for the project.

"I want to see why these costs have ballooned," said Republican Sen. Shelley Capito, who chairs the Senate Committee of Environment and Public Works. "What are the performance measures that are built in…because now the whole country's paying for this bridge."

Rep. Steve Womack, who chairs the House Appropriations Transportation Subcommittee, was also in attendance.

Marylanders say they want the bridge open as soon as possible because dealing with the traffic and extra time to get from side to side are a major hassle. Some aren't confident on the timeline.

"For me, when I have to get on this side it's definitely a major inconvenience," said Dusty Morris from Dundalk. "Probably by 2033, if that, for someone to actually cross over an open bridge."

Key Bridge funding and design

The Key Bridge fell into the Patapsco River in March 2024 after it was struck by the container ship Dali, which had lost power. Six construction workers were killed, and traffic and the supply chain were snarled for several months. 

The rebuild will be fully funded by the federal government. Funding was included in a 2024 federal spending bill. 

The new Key Bridge will be more than two miles long with two 12-foot lanes in each direction. The bridge will have 230 feet of clearance above the federal channel and will have a lifespan of 100 years.