ANNAPOLIS — State transportation officials vowed Tuesday to keep reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on track, even as they part ways with the current contractor and begin the search for a new one.
State officials said Tuesday that the decision to part ways with Kiewit Infrastructure as the project enters phase two came down to a disagreement on price for completing the project.
“We’ve been very pleased with the quality of the work and the timeliness of the work, and Kiewit will continue to do that work until it’s completed,” said Transportation Secretary Kathryn Thomson.
Under the terms of the initial contract, Kiewit began the design and planning of the new bridge. The contract required the state to negotiate first with Kiewit on an option on phase two construction.
Those negotiations continued over the last three weeks, but bogged down on the issue of price.
Thomson said state officials worked with Kiewit to “better understand their bid and what we believe is a reasonable cost for the bridge.”
The cost of that replacement is estimated at $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion. It is not expected to open until the end of 2030 — about two years later than originally projected.
“We ultimately decided that their bid was unacceptably high,” Thomson said. “We were not able to resolve the differences, although the discussions helped us better understand some of the source of the differences.”
Because of the impasse, Thomson said the state will “off ramp” Kiewit from the project.
Thomson declined to elaborate on the value of Kiewit’s bid, citing confidentiality restrictions.
The Nebraska-based firm joined the project in 2024. It will continue to work on the project until the end of the year. All told, the company will be paid about $700 million for its part in the project, according to transportation officials.
Thomson said the project will continue without interruption.
“We will go out to the market to seek competitive bids for phase two and expect to have contractors on board to ensure that there is no work stoppage and that we see continual progress to reconstruct the Key Bridge in the coming months,” she said.
Reconstruction started two years ago after the collapse of the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024. The container ship Dali was leaving the Port of Baltimore that morning when it lost power. The fully loaded 985-foot ship went dark, drifted and eventually struck one of the piers of the bridge.
Within seconds, much of the span collapsed into the Patapsco River.
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 linked to a loose wire. But the agency also cited what it called “woefully inadequate” infrastructure protecting the Key Bridge.
Currently, the project includes about 30 of the nearly 1,000 pilings that will be required to build the new bridge. James Harkness, chief engineer for the Maryland Transportation Authority, said Kiewit continues to make progress on the project.
“They’re out there working two locations for driving those piles. Similarly, they’re working two locations on the construction trestle or the temporary work platform,” Harkness said. “So, they’re working on both sides, north and south there as well. So making good progress on all those activities.”
Then-President Joe Biden at the time of the bridge collapse promised full federal reimbursement for the project. The state, however, is responsible for forward-funding much of the work and seeking reimbursement.
At times, federal officials under President Donald Trump have raised questions about the security of that funding. The biggest concern is the potential for escalating costs.
“Maryland and the U.S. Department of Transportation are aligned that we all have an obligation to deliver this bridge in a cost effective, timely and responsible way that meets the highest safety standards. There’s no daylight between us on that,” Thomson said.
“Yes, it is true that USDOT would like to bring this cost in as low as possible. That is also true for us too, but we will be guided by responsible project management, keeping tight control over risks,” she said. “But they … have not laid down a marker, and by law, they’re legally obligated to cover 100% of the costs.”