Today I participated in one of the information boat rides the Maryland Transportation Authority MDTA organizes to keep the public informed about the Key Bridge reconstruction (Website). Baltimore County interim executive Kathy Klausmeier, Greater Baltimore Committee CEO Anthony Thomas, Senator Shelley Hettleman, and many others took the opportunity of sailing down Bear Creek from the docks of the Hard Yacht Cafe to get close to the worksite where the Key Bridge is supposed to rise again.
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| The yawning gap remains a constant reminder of what is missing (Photo: Philipsen) |
Most of this has been reported by media when they had first dibs for such a boat tour and little new has happened since Kiewit, the originally selected Design-Build contractor had been fired for lack of agreement on the final cost of the project. I reported about this several times before.
However, Kiewit -during their two years on the job- developed a 70% design for the new bridge, had demolished some parts of the concrete approach ramps that had survived the bridge collapse, had constructed two work platforms constructed like a very low bridge ("trestle") in the shallower waters outside the shipping channel and parallel to the future bridge and drove the main piles that form the foundation for the future 400' tall pylons that will hold up the anticipated cable stayed bridge. All this previously contracted work is now coming to an end, so MDTA is busy retaining new contractors. This time they are not looking for someone to design and construct all the work in one package; instead they decided to split up the remaining scope between the rest of the ncessary demolition, the construction of new, wider and longer approach ramps on the north and south side of the main span that has to fit in between the two new approach bridge portions.
The for me most interesting aspect of the regrouping effort revealed itself in a conversation I had with MDTA director Bruce Gartner on the side. He mentioned that MDTA has just hired the internationally know firm of ARUP in a giant sole-source design contract worth up to $95 million. The contract was approved by Maryland's Board of Public Works in their September 16th session, exactly two years after the original design-build firm Kiewit received their notice to proceed.
On April 28, 2026, MDTA exercised the contractual off-ramp to terminate Kiewit’s involvement in the contract. MDTA is seeking to establish a contract directly with the structural design subconsultants that were previously contracted directly to Kiewit, along with several other key subconsultants. Given their prior involvement in the design phase of KB-4903-0000, this team of consultants is the only one capable of developing signed and sealed plans on an accelerated schedule. (BoPW agenda)
Arup was the structural engineer for Kiewit. Bringing back the fired general contractor's design consultant makes sense: They are prepared and know the 70% design like no other, since they had done it. They are probably really the only ones able to finish the design drawings quickly and put their stamp and seal on them. This allows the new contractors who will be selected for the main span and approaches over water to go rght into construction without worrying about the liability that would come from taking on incomplete designs from another entity. This should save time and probably also money.
However, a sole-source contract in this magnitude (i.e. without a competitive bid) is extremely unusual in the world of public works. and can only be justified in emergencies and if there is really only one entitity that can perform the work. Even though I don't know how this was argued at the BoPW, it is likely that both of these reasons were given for going straight to Arup. It probably helped that the Kiewit team and their consultants had already been vetted when Kiewit was selected two years ago in a competitive process.
Nevertheless, two and a half years the sight of the still standing bridge abutments to nowhere and the only sign of a new bridge being several dozen mostly submerged steel piles is a bit disheartening. So far, there is also still no indication that the bridge will exhibit any visible innovation or enhancement that would make it authentically Baltimore and a new instantly recognizable landmark, i.e. something that is more than a plain vanilla cable stayed bridge.
Progress on the "rebuild" project can now be seen at the online dashboard.
Klaus Philipsen, FAIA
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
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| Rendering of the new cable stayed bridge design with detaols of the bridge deck and pylon the support |
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| The rest of the bridge to nowhere will be demolished soon |
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| Large water based cranes driving steel pipe piles into the muck |
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| MDTA Director Bruce Gartner in conversation withAnthony Thomas of GBC |
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| Overview of the envisioned bridge |
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| The Key Bridge rebuild is MDTA's largest project ever |
