Maryland officials have more than doubled the estimated cost for rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, initially projected to cost $1.9 billion, after the bridge collapsed and killed six construction workers in 2024.
Rebuilding the vital bridge will now cost between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion – and take two years longer than previously estimated, with its completion expected in 2030, Maryland Transportation Authority officials said Monday.
“As design has advanced and pre-construction work progresses, it became clear that material costs for all aspects of the project have increased drastically since the preliminary estimates were prepared less than two weeks after the initial tragedy,” said the Acting Transportation Secretary and MDTA Chair Samantha J. Biddle.
The cost change and delay were announced the night before a National Transportation Safety Board meeting, where board members are expected to vote on the probable cause for the disater and safety recommendations following the March 2024 out-of-control tanker crash and collapse.
The 1.6-mile-long bridge, a longstanding route through Baltimore’s downtown, was once vital for traffic heading into the Port of Baltimore, which was closed for months as a result of the collapse.
The container ship, Dali, suffered two catastrophic electrical failures mere minutes before the crash – and experienced two blackouts a day earlier, a preliminary NTSB report stated.
The six construction workers who fell to their death were immigrants from Honduras, El Salvador, Mexico and Guatemala.
After the crash, then-President Joe Biden said he was committed to helping rebuild the bridge as quickly as possible – and said that the federal government would front the bill.
Maryland’s transportation authority, in its press release, noted the American Relief Act, which authorized more than $8 billion for the Emergency Relief Program and committed to fully funding the bridge’s replacement.
Still, officials seemed uncertain on whether President Donald Trump would keep his predecessor’s promise.
“We will continue to work with the Trump Administration to find ways to reduce costs and rebuild faster,” Governor Wes Moore said. “And we will keep Marylanders continuously apprised of construction progress.”
The governor said the state is looking to pursue litigation against those responsible “so taxpayers aren’t on the hook.”
