Maryland more than doubles cost estimate on rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge

ANNAPOLIS, MD.

ANNAPOLIS, MD. — Maryland officials have more than doubled the estimated cost to replace Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed and killed six construction workers last year after a massive container ship crashed into it, and they’ve added two years on to the projected completion date.

The Maryland Transportation Authority said Monday it is updating its financial forecast to include a price range of between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion, with an anticipated open-to-traffic date in late 2030. That’s up from a previous estimated cost of $1.9 billion and an opening date of late 2028.

“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 Acting Transportation Secretary and MDTA Chair Samantha J. Biddle.

The announcement by Maryland officials was made a day before the National Transportation Safety Board was scheduled to vote on its findings into what caused a massive container ship to crash into the bridge. The board was set to meet Tuesday morning in Washington to vote on a probable cause, safety recommendations and any changes to an earlier report.

Container ship Dali after running into and collapsing the Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024.Jerry Jackson / Tribune News Service via Getty Images fileInvestigators previously discovered a loose cable that could have caused electrical issues on the cargo ship called the Dali, which lost power and veered off course before striking the bridge, according to documents released last year by the NTSB.