U.S. Dept. of Transportation raises concerns about Baltimore Key Bridge rebuild costs, traffic congestion in Maryland

The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) raised concerns about the cost of rebuilding Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and traffic congestion in Maryland.

On Tuesday, USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy said he plans to meet with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore to discuss the increased estimated cost of the rebuild and congestion along the I-495 and I-270 corridor.

"I look forward to discussing the urgent matter of relieving severe congestion on the American Legion Memorial Bridge and getting the Francis Scott Key Bridge project back on track with Governor Moore," Duffy said.

Political theater

Officials increase estimated cost, push back timeline of Key Bridge rebuild

EDGEMERE, Md. —
Officials updated the cost estimate for the Key Bridge rebuild and pushed the estimated timeline back on Monday.

The announcement came on the eve of a National Transportation Safety Board hearing on the Key Bridge collapse that is expected to settle a cause for the 2024 collapse that killed six construction workers.

In a news release, the Maryland Transportation Authority said the cost will likely be anywhere from $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion. The change marks a stark contrast after the Associated Press reported in May 2024 that the initial cost was estimated to be between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.

"That was a 0% design. We had no engineering for a new bridge. We hadn't done any studies in the river," said Bruce Gartner, executive director of the MDTA. "You need to give the federal government an estimate to enter into the emergency relief program."

After initially saying the new bridge should be reopened by fall 2028, officials revised the estimated opening date to be in late 2030.

Key Bridge rebuild progresses with first piles driven into the Patapsco riverbed

Construction crews are beginning to drive massive cylindrical piles into the Patapsco riverbed, part of the next stage of the expedited rebuilding of Baltimore’s fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge.

If everything goes right, some of these steel piles could later form part of the new Key Bridge, engineers said. But mainly, they are test subjects.

Once the piles are positioned deep within the river bottom, crews will top them with a large yellow cap that functions as a hammer, striking the pile repeatedly to test its strength. Eventually, the blows will reach a maximum force of about 10 million pounds, said Brian Wolfe, the director of project development at the Maryland Transportation Authority.
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Each pile is more than 200 feet long and 8 feet in diameter, and weighs around 340,000 pounds, Wolfe said. So, maneuvering them requires some of the East Coast’s largest cranes, as have several other parts of the complex effort to demolish the old bridge and bring in the new.

Initial projections placed the cost for the bridge replacement around $1.8 billion, with a 2028 reopening date.

(MDTA Begins Test Pile Program for Francis Scott Key Bridge Rebuild (Video)

Progress on rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge recently hit a new milestone as the Maryland Transportation Authority began the bridge’s Test Pile Program.

Six test piles, measuring 8 feet in diameter, over 220 feet high and made of American steel, were barged into the city. They vary in thickness from 1.5 inches to 2 inches and will be driven into the Patapsco River – after being vibrated into place – with a pile driving hammer.

A total of 12 test piles will be placed in the riverbed over the next 6 to 8 weeks and will require about 2 hours of hammering, which will sound similar to a large bell ringing in the distance, according to MDTA.

Will Trump try to pull Key Bridge funding? Transportation Secretary concerned about cost, timeline, DEI mandates

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy expressed concerns Friday about the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuilding project and has asked for a meeting with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.

In a letter to Moore delivered Friday, Duffy raised concerns from the Trump administration over project costs, the overall proposed project budget and timeline, and the use of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in awarding contracts for the bridge rebuild project.

Duffy raises Key Bridge rebuild concerns

"Congress granted the Secretary of Transportation important authorities to conduct critical oversight to ensure that federal highway funds are properly managed, and I take this authority seriously," Duffy wrote. "It is my role to guarantee that federally funded projects benefit the entire nation through every dollar spent."

"I am particularly interested in how the State of Maryland plans to achieve key delivery metrics for the FSK Bridge replacement project, including MDOT's estimates of a $1.8 billion project cost and the 2028 expected completion date," he said.

Duffy added that he was concerned about what he called "unconstitutional" DEI contracting practices. Specifically, Duffy pointed to the U.S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program.

In January, the Maryland Transportation Authority set a 31.5% participation goal for USDOT eligible disadvantaged businesses in its engineering consultant contract. To be considered a disadvantaged business under the DBE program, a business must be a small, for-profit company that is majority-owned and operated by people who are socially and financially disadvantaged.

Baltimore bridge rebuild could exceed $5B

Rebuilding Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge could cost more than $5 billion — more than double the $1.9 billion estimate Maryland officials outlined shortly after the crucial arterial span fell into the Patapsco River last year, two people engaged in the discussions told POLITICO.
That could give fresh fuel to President Donald Trump, who late last month flirted with yanking federal funding for the bridge after quarreling on social media with Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore — a potential presidential candidate — about the crime rate in Baltimore.

“That bridge is not going to get any cheaper the longer we delay committing the funding to build it,” Womack said

Ugh first news I came across that put the bridge rebuild in peril

Revised design for Baltimore's Key bridge could reduce environmental impact

The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) said it's making a few changes to the proposed design of Baltimore's new Francis Scott Key Bridge, which will hopefully limit some of the environmental impact

MDTA is proposing moving the new bridge approximately 260 feet southeast of the current bridge site. Moving the footprint of the new construction will allow the new bridge to be built while demolition of the former bridge continues.

"We saw this as a win-win to get to the key construction elements as quickly as we can, while also minimizing the overall impacts of the project," said Jason Stolicny, deputy director at MDTA. "By moving the bridge, the removal of the existing bridge is no longer one of the critical elements. We can build the new bridge while we demolish the old bridge."

The MDTA had to formally request a change to its approved permit, which requires the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) to sign off on the new proposal.

The rebuilt Key Bridge could be completed by the fall of 2028, with a price tag of more than $1 billion. However, MDTA said it is updating the cost and schedule for the rebuild, and changes will be announced in the fall

Demolition begins on last pieces of Baltimore’s collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge

BALTIMORE (AP) — Demolition crews are using giant saws, backhoes and other heavy equipment to remove large sections of the remaining pieces of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed last year after a container ship lost power and veered off course, killing six people.

Its replacement, which is expected to open in 2028, can be built nearby during demolition the work, officials said.

Gov. Wes Moore praised the efforts and noted the magnitude of the project during a visit to the worksite Wednesday. He also mourned those who died in the collapse.

“We wanted to move as quickly as possible. We wanted to move as safely as possible, and we wanted to make sure we were being good stewards of taxpayer dollars,” he told reporters.

Collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge impacted half of area residents, report finds

About 3,500 commuters used the bridge each day, and the collapse led to long-term traffic issues, Johns Hopkins University reported.

As part of its 2024 Baltimore Area Survey, Johns Hopkins University researchers asked 934 city and 558 county residents how the bridge collapse affected their lives, how well the government responded and how long they expect the rebuild to take.

According to the report, about 36% of Baltimore City and County residents said they found it harder to visit family and friends, run errands, and get to work since the collapse of the Key Bridge.

One year after Baltimore bridge collapse, NTSB finds 68 US bridges need to be assessed for risk of collapse if hit by ship

Washington
CNN
—
Sixty-eight bridges across the US should be assessed to see if they are at risk of collapse if hit by a ship, transportation safety officials found, while urging the bridges’ owners to undertake immediate vulnerability assessments. The four urgent safety recommendations are part of the National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigation into the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last year.

Lack of oversight by the state failing to do an assessment

The Golden Gate Bridge in California; Brooklyn, Manhattan, Williamsburg, George Washington and Verrazzano-Narrows bridges in New York City; the Walt Whitman and Benjamin Franklin bridges in Pennsylvania; the Sunshine Skyway in Florida and the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan all made the list.

Army Corps. of Engineers issues permit

BALTIMORE - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted a permit to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, nearly one year after a container ship struck its center span and caused its devastating collapse into the Patapsco River.

MDTA announces construction management, inspection services contracts for Baltimore Key Bridge rebuild

The contracts are for construction management and inspection services and are worth $20 million each

The Maryland Board of Public Works approved contracts with Greenman-Pederson, Inc./Gannett Fleming, Inc.; Michael Baker International, Inc./STV, Inc.; and AECOM Technical Services, Inc.

The consulting teams will oversee various aspects of the reconstruction, including constructability reviews, inspections of erosion control, traffic maintenance, materials testing, and scheduling.

For all the naysayers who thought this bridge would never get reconstructed the state of Maryland is making fast progress!

Bridge Design Revealed

Key Bridge design unveiled: Towers will be taller than anticipation

The state’s first cable-stayed bridge, set to open in 2028, will stand over 600 feet tall

$75M for bridge management

The Board of Public Works approved a $75 million contract Wednesday to hire three firms that will oversee construction management services on the Francis Scott Key Bridge, as the replacement project gets under way in earnest this spring.

The companies, a consortium calling itself Bridging Maryland Partnership, will be responsible for planning, engineering, surveying, construction management and more.

“The Bridging Maryland Partnership is responsible for ensuring that this bridge is built safely, that it’s built sustainably and smoothly and importantly, as swiftly as possible,” said Gov. Wes Moore (D), one of three members of the board along with Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Treasurer Dereck Davis.

Funded by Congress

For all those who thought the bridge would never get rebuilt are absolutely wrong now. Making it into a federal funding bill the probability of this project getting completed went up substantially

Pre construction work begins in January

👏👏👏 way to go work includes topographical surveys, underwater surveys and soil sampling👏👏👏

We have an update

MDE holds public hearing on proposed changes Key Bridge reconstruction process

And we got drawings!!

Renderings from the Maryland Transportation Authority showed build plans for a new bridge that would stand 45-feet taller than the demolished Key Bridge. The construction is expected to start in 2025 and last until 2028.

Biden sends request to Congress to rebuild Baltimore’s Key Bridge

The Biden Administration sent a $100 billion disaster relief request to Congress Monday evening; some of those funds will be used to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The request asks for $8 billion for the Transportation Department, which would grant the funds for the project.

The Key Bridge rebuild is expected to cost roughly $2 billion and take until fall 2028 to complete.

President Biden promised to fully fund the project shortly after the collapse of the bridge on March 26. Usually, the federal government only pays for 90% of projects of that nature.

Congress will need to pass a law requiring the government to fit the full bill. There is already legislation drafted to do just that, however, it still has not made it to the president’s desk.

Has all the import and export moved away from that port?

Is the port back to operating at full capacity yet?

MDTA to lease Tradepoint Atlantic space for Key Bridge work

https://thedailyrecord.com/2024/10/14/mdta-to-lease-tradepoint-atlantic-space-for-key-bridge-work/