Key Bridge Builder Selected

Balmer Sun, Baltimore, we have a builder. Nebraska-based company selected to construct new Key Bridge.

The Maryland Transportation Authority took the first step Thursday toward building a replacement for the toppled Francis Scott Key Bridge when it awarded a contract to construction giant Kiewit Infrastructure Co. for the project’s first phase.

The agency’s board approved a contract that will allow pre-construction and design work to start next week, marking a notable chapter in the five-months-long saga of the Key Bridge collapse and aftermath.

“It’s really good that we are at this stage to have that partner on board with us to advance the project,” MDTA Executive Director Bruce Gartner said after the vote.
. . .
The $73 million design phase contract awarded to Omaha, Nebraska-based Kiewit Corp. is a down payment on what is expected to be at least a $1.7 billion project to replace the Key Bridge over the Patapsco River.

A spokesman for the contractor said it will work in partnership with the MDTA, local subcontractors and suppliers and its workforce “to safely deliver and restore this vital transportation link in the city of Baltimore and the greater region.”

The original bridge was allegedly built for $141 million, which would translate to approximately $750 million today. Given that the new bridge will presumably be bolstered to withstand possible ship strikes, that seems a reasonable sum.