Cost estimate to repair collapsed Baltimore bridge more than doubles

Cost estimate to repair collapsed Baltimore bridge more than doubles. NTSB reveals likely cause of power outage on ship that rammed bridge.

In the early morning hours of March 26 last year, a Singapore-bound cargo ship called the Dali suffered two catastrophic power failures as it was leaving Baltimore’s harbor. Minutes later, the Dali crashed into a supporting pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which spanned the lower Patapsco River leading to Chesapeake Bay. The bridge quickly collapsed, killing six construction workers who were carrying out road repairs on the bridge.

The Key Bridge was an important artery for the city crossed each day by about 35,000 cars and trucks. The bridge’s collapse also forced Baltimore’s main port facilities to halt operations for days until the wreckage could be cleared. This caused an estimated $15 billion loss per day in economic activity.

At the time, Maryland’s Department of Transportation estimated that the cost of replacing the bridge would be between $1.6 billion and $1.9 billion. The Maryland Transportation Authority now says that estimate has more than doubled to between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion. The agency also now projects an opening date some time in 2030, two years later than the initial estimate.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says that the initial cost and time estimates were before any engineering or design studies were carried out. Moore added that, “Since then, national economic conditions have deteriorated and material costs have increased. At the same time, elevated costs have resulted from federal design and resilience standards — not discretionary state choices”.

NTSB says poorly placed wiring label caused outages

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the causes of the disaster since they occurred and revealed their findings yesterday. NTSB says the power outage was caused by a label being improperly placed near a contact point on a wire when the ship was constructed over 10 years ago. The board noted that ship had previously experienced electrical problems, including while in port in Baltimore.

These findings will likely impact complicated ongoing legal proceedings to determine legal and financial liabilities for the disaster, including the costs of repairing the bridge, economic losses, environmental damage, and wrongful death suits. The Department of Justice has sued the ship’s owners and operators, Grace Ocean Private Limited and Singapore-based Synergy Marine Group. That DOJ has since settled that case for $100 million. The State of Maryland and other entities have their own suits against Grace Ocean and Synergy, which remain ongoing.

Grace Ocean and Synergy have in turn sued Hyundai Heavy Industries, the ship’s Korean manufacturer.