Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore...

Rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge over the Patapsco River will probably take years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, experts said. But the shipping channel from the Port of Baltimore, a major economic engine for the city, could be cleared in months…….

Some experts said it’s unlikely even a new bridge could withstand the impact of a direct hit from a massive cargo ship, though some called for an improved warning system in the channel that could more effectively evacuate people and stop traffic in the event of a runaway ship. And they warned residents to brace for a protracted process.


Benjamin W. Schafer, professor of civil and systems engineering at Johns Hopkins University, said it could take months to remove debris and reopen the channel.

“I’d be shocked if it’s weeks,” he said. “But I don’t think it’d take even a year. There is, certainly that technology for moving the steel out as quickly as possible.”

Reconstructing the bridge is expected to take much longer.
The original Key Bridge took five years to build in the 1970s. Schafer noted that it took seven years to rebuild the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay, which collapsed after being struck by a freighter in 1980.


“I’ve lived through quite a few civil infrastructure projects,” Schafer said, “and they’re rarely less than 10 years. So I think that’s what we’re looking at.”

He added: “The price tags never seem to be out of the hundreds of millions these days. So I’d be shocked if we’re not at least in that hundreds of millions of dollars.” When the bridge opened in 1977, it cost $60.3 million, which is equivalent to $316 million today.


Atorod Azizinamini, a civil engineering professor at the Florida International University who specializes in structural and bridge engineering, said it is possible for Baltimore to see a new Key Bridge within 2½ years.

He described that as a breakneck speed compared with the standard timetable for building similar bridges, which could take as long as a decade from conception to execution……


https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/03/27/baltimore-key-bridge-rebuild-timeline/