The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) hopes to get the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge back on track by issuing a request for qualifications to design and build the new bridge’s main span and marine approaches.
With an estimated construction budget of up to $4 billion, the contract is the largest procurement in MDTA’s revised strategy to restore the critical crossing following the agency’s April decision to drop design-build contractor Kiewit Infrastructure Co. of the project amid rising costs and an extended delivery deadline to replace the original bridge that collapsed in March, killing six construction workers.
According to the RFQ, which is due Aug. 19, the design-build contract calls for the construction of a four-lane, 3,365-foot-long bridge with a 1,665-foot-long cable-stayed main span that provides a minimum clearance of 230 feet over the federal navigation channel of the Patapsco River. A vessel protection system is also included for the piers supporting the two main 602-foot concrete pylons, approximately 660 feet of bridge over water on the south approach, and approximately 1,560 feet of bridge over water on the north approach.
The cost exceeds MDTA’s goals for the project, according to the RFQ, after sequencing construction to have the new toll bridge fully open “as close to December 31, 2030 as practicable,” with minimal disruption to marine traffic, the Port of Baltimore and surrounding communities. Other priorities include ensuring the safety of workers and using materials, construction and operational aspects that provide “a durable and aesthetically pleasing bridge” with a minimum service life of 100 years.
MDTA plans to select design and construction teams in mid-October, with a final selection and notice to be announced in the summer of 2027.
The other three elements of the reconstruction (demolition of the marine structures still remaining from the original bridge and construction of the northern and solid and land approaches) will be solicited as design-bid-build contracts later this year and will be carried out simultaneously with the design and construction project. MDTA has previously said the entire rebuild can be completed for less than $5 billion, far less than the estimates announced during its failed negotiations with Kiewit for the second phase of the original progressive design acquisition.
Kiewit is ineligible to compete for the new design-build contract, as are most of its subcontractors contracted under its initial $73 million Phase 1 contract, which is in its final stages. The scope of work for Phase 1 includes driving 8-foot-diameter permanent main light foundation piles up to 230 feet long near the federal shipping channel and constructing a temporary construction trestle that will provide equipment and material access to the main light work area.
In May, the families of the six construction workers who died when the original span bridge collapsed, as well as the sole survivor of the incident, reached a confidential settlement with the owner and operator of the MV Dali, the container ship that struck the bridge and caused the collapse.
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