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State transportation officials on a projected cost of $5.2 billion to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, despite reports of some estimates nearly twice that amount.
Maryland will part ways later this year with the current contractor, Nebraska-based Kiewit聽 Infrastructure, after failing to reach agreement on a final project cost. State officials have refused to disclose the amount sought by Kiewit, citing confidential negotiations, but some estimates have placed Kiewit鈥檚 asking price as high as $9 billion.
But Transportation Secretary Kathryn Thomson and other officials told members of House Appropriations and the Environment and Transportation committees that they estimate the cost at about $5.2 billion.
Thomson said the transportation officials 鈥渨orked with independent cost estimators and Federal Highways and did our own analysis to better understand what the cost of the bridge 鈥� the remaining demolition and reconstruction 鈥� would cost, and put that out in the report that we released in November of last year.
鈥淭hat remains our cost estimate for the bridge 鈥� the higher end, the $5 billion,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we continue to reevaluate that assessment, pressure-test the assumptions, and that remains our best estimate.鈥�
Initial estimates for a new cable-stayed bridge in the days immediately following the 2024 collapse placed the cost of replacement at about $1.7 billion.
鈥淚鈥檓 deeply concerned about where we are on cost right now,鈥� said Del. Ryan Nawrocki (R-Baltimore County).
Thomson told the panel during a nearly 75-minute briefing that state officials knew initial estimate 鈥渨as not going to be the final cost but we wanted to get into the emergency relief program at Federal Highways [Administration] and 鈥� that was the advice to us, just give us what it would have cost at the time.鈥�
Bruce Gartner, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, said that number was arrived at without any design work completed and based on the 1970s era bridge that was in place when a cargo ship allided with it.
The authority oversees the bridge and other toll facilities.
鈥淚鈥檓 really concerned about where the number really is,鈥� Nawrocki said. 鈥淒o we have a $5 billion project? Do we have a $7 billion project? Is it a $9 billion project? And if it goes to any of those higher numbers, is the federal government going to continue to fully fund this project?鈥�
Thomson rejected the higher estimates.
鈥淭o the extent you鈥檝e heard substantially higher numbers, those are not our numbers, and I continue to say those will never be our numbers,鈥� Thomson said. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e in the 5-billion-ish range.鈥�
Reconstruction began two years ago after the collapse of the Key Bridge. The container ship Dali was leaving the Port of Baltimore in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024, when the fully loaded ship lost power soon after leaving the port. The 985-foot vessel went dark, drifted and eventually struck one of the piers of the bridge.
Within seconds, much of the span . Six members of road crew who were working on the bridge deck that morning died.
The collapse closed the Port of Baltimore for weeks. The ship was trapped under the fallen bridge decking. State, federal and private crews pulled 50,000 tons of steel and concrete from the shipping channel to reopen it to port traffic.
The National Transportation Safety Board, in a November report, said the collapse was the result of a power outage . But the agency also cited what it called 鈥渨oefully inadequate鈥� infrastructure protecting the Key Bridge.
As part of the rebuild effort, the state in 2024 to design and plan the new bridge. As part of that work, the company has also started placing pilings in the bed of the Patapsco.
Kiewit held the option to be the first to negotiate a contract on phase two construction. Three weeks of negotiations bogged down over what Thomson said was an 鈥渦nacceptably high鈥� bid.
The state is now 鈥渙ff-ramping鈥� Kiewit. The firm will continue to place piles for the project until the end of the year. As of April, about 30 of the nearly 1,000 pilings that will be required to build the new bridge had been placed. The state will pay the firm $700 million for its part of the project.
Even so, Thomson told the committees that work will continue as the state bids out the project as .
So far the costs have been covered with money from an insurance claim and an early release of federal funding.
Thomson and Gartner said that toll increases will not be needed to cover the costs. Some toll increase could come as early as next year, but officials said it is not related to the bridge.
鈥淪o we do have plans to adjust tolls, but not as a result of this project or project needs,鈥� Thomson said.
The state still expects to receive full reimbursement of the cost of the rebuild from the federal government.
The committee also heard briefly from the Office of the Attorney General on lawsuits related to the bridge.
The office announced a month ago that it reached a $2.25 billion settlement with Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd., the owner and operator of the Dali. The settlement is expected to go toward rebuilding the bridge.
The settlement resolves all claims with the owner and operator of the cargo vessel. The state could still seek damages from Hyundai Heavy Industries, the builder of the ship.
Grace Ocean and Synergy Marine are expected to pay the state by June 5.
