The Maryland Transportation Authority board voted unanimously to award a $73 million contract to construction firm Kiewit on Thursday to design the replacement for the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
The contract is the first step in a years-long process that will cost $1.23 billion. The state hopes to finish the project and have traffic on the new bridge by fall 2028.
The award is part of a progressive design process, which will allow the Nebraska-based company, that also built the Fort McHenry Tunnel, to work alongside MDTA officials on a multi-phased approach to the rebuild.
MDTA received three proposals from firms for the build, Kiewit’s was the most expensive, but the state felt like the company’s plans were the best suited for its goals.
The design will give the bridge at least 230 feet of clearance above the Patapsco river, according to guidelines set by the Coast Guard.
The contract award comes after Maryland received $350 million in insurance payments earlier this week for the collapse of the Key Bridge.
It’s been five months since a nearly 1000-foot cargo ship lost power and careened into the bridge, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers.
MDTA says it will collaborate with the community on the design process.
The federal government will pay for at least 90% of the cost of the bridge. There is currently legislation in Congress that would require the federal government to pick up the whole tab.
The city of Baltimore is currently suing the owner and manager of the ship that hit the Key Bridge.
The city is asking the court to overlook an 1851 maritime law that caps ship owner responsibility for accidents at about $44 million because of negligence on the part of the company.
The city says it is due payment for the replacement of the bridge, the costs of the obstruction to the river, costs for the loss of tax revenue, funds for the cleanup and money for the nuisance suffered by the residents of Baltimore.
“The Port of Baltimore was no stranger to large freighters like the Dali,” the lawyers representing Baltimore wrote in the filing. “For more than four decades, cargo ships made thousands of trips every year under the Key Bridge without incident. There was nothing about March 26, 2024 that should have changed that. But Petitioners, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Synergy Marine Pte Ltd saw fit to put a clearly unseaworthy vessel into the water.”
Other legislative bodies are also springing into action to recoup funds regarding the rebuild of the bridge.
Federal lawmakers are introducing legislation that could make Grace Ocean liable for up to $854 million in damages to the federal government.
The Justice for Victims of Foreign Vessel Accidents Act would hold owners of foreign-flagged vessels accountable for up to ten times the value of the ship and its cargo after an accident.