Almost a year after the Francis Scott Key Bridge was struck by the cargo ship Dali and collapsed into channel for the Port of Baltimore, designs for the replacement structure have been unveiled.
The new bridge will be the first highway cable-stayed bridge in the state and have an expected lifespan of 100 years. The original Francis Scott Key Bridge was a steel arch continuous truss bridge with 185-foot clearance, which will be upgraded in the new build to a 230-foot clearance for ships.
Cost estimates for the bridge have been up to $1.7 billion with a 2028 completion.
(For more views of the artist's rendering of the new bridge, check out the video released by Maryland Governor Wes Moore's office at the end of this story.)
The total length of the new structure will be 2 miles versus the previous structure's 1.7 miles. The two bridge towers will each be 600 feet tall – 242 feet taller than the previous structure. Distances between the main spans will increase from 1,209 to 1,600 feet, and the total span length will go from 2,642 to 3,300 feet.
Drivers will use two 12-foot lanes in both directions with 10-foot outside shoulders and 4-foot inside shoulders.
Finalizing this new design was a collaborative effort among the Maryland Department of Transportation, the project’s design-builder Kiewit Infrastructure Co. and its general engineering consultant Bridging Maryland Partnership. For more views of the artist's rendering of the new bridge, check out the video at the end of this story.
In September, Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, on behalf of the state and its agencies, filed suit against the owners of ship Dali for causing its collision with the Key Bridge, a case the state says it is still pursuing. However, the December 12, 2024, passage of the American Relief Act gave the state 100% federal funding for the reconstruction, pending any compensation paid from the Dali.
A month after it was filed, the U.S. Department of Justice’s own lawsuit against the companies that owned and operated the cargo ship Dali was settled for over $100 million.
Below is a video of artistic renderings of the future Key Bridge on the Maryland Transportation Authority's Key Bridge Rebuild website:
