Francis Scott Key Bridge Rebuild

The Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild is one of the most closely watched infrastructure projects in the United States, and for a hard reason: the original collapsed in March 2024 after a container ship lost power and struck a support pier. Maryland is replacing it with a new crossing of the Patapsco River, awarded to Kiewit Infrastructure under a progressive design-build contract and targeted to open in the fall of 2028.

Project Scope

The Maryland Transportation Authority is delivering the replacement through progressive design-build, a structure that puts design and construction under a single contract and brings the builder in early to shape constructability. Kiewit won the role through a $73 million Phase 1 award covering preconstruction and design development, with exclusive rights to negotiate the full build in Phase 2. The complete replacement is estimated at roughly $1.7 billion, with the federal government committed to funding the reconstruction.

The new bridge carries I-695 across the Patapsco and restores a route that moved tens of thousands of vehicles a day, including hazmat traffic barred from the harbor tunnels. The replacement design raises the navigational clearance and hardens the pier protection so a single vessel strike cannot take the structure down again.

Why It Matters

This is rebuild-after-disaster work, and the schedule reflects it. A fall 2028 opening is aggressive for a crossing of this scale, and the progressive design-build approach is the bet that getting Kiewit’s means-and-methods input early will protect that date. The project sits alongside other major U.S. river crossings now in delivery, including the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project on the Ohio River. For Baltimore, the stakes are economic as much as symbolic: until the bridge reopens, the region absorbs the detours, the tunnel restrictions, and the daily reminder of what failed.

Project Team & Details