Maryland officials said Tuesday they will not retain the main contractor in the ongoing reconstruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, citing a cost proposal for the project’s second phase that exceeded the state’s estimates.
The decision to “off-ramp” Kiewit Infrastructure Co. came after weeks of negotiations failed to close a gap between the company’s proposal to build the bridge and what state officials believe is acceptable — talks occurring against a backdrop of criticism from the Trump administration about the overall cost of replacing the span that was destroyed when a container ship struck it two years ago, killing six workers.
“We made the decision yesterday,” Maryland Transportation Secretary Katie Thomson said Tuesday, “after a lot of internal discussions, and several weeks of negotiations with Kiewit, and it became apparent that we could not resolve the significant difference in cost for construction between what we and our independent cost estimators believe is the reasonable cost” and Kiewit’s number.
Thomson declined to disclose Kiewit’s specific estimate, citing confidential contract negotiations, but said it markedly exceeded figures state officials arrived at in November. The Maryland Transportation Authority estimated it would cost between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion to replace the bridge, which collapsed after the Dali container ship hit a main pier in March 2024.
Teresa Shada, a spokesperson for Kiewit, said in a statement that the company was “disappointed by this decision” but committed to completing its work for the project’s first phase and “focused on supporting the success of this vital project for Maryland and the surrounding region.”
Kiewit is “proud of the progress achieved and the strong working relationship” it has developed with Maryland officials, Shada said in her emailed statement. She did not disclose Kiewit’s price estimate.
Thomson said Kiewit’s price was “substantially more” than the state’s November cost estimates. “Our goal of the negotiations was to try to understand why they came in at that high number and to get it down to the range that at least we believe, based on very significant analysis and input from our independent cost estimators and our work with federal highways, what we believe to be the reasonable range,” she said. “And we were not able to agree.”
The off-ramping provision is standard in “progressive” design-build contracts when parties cannot agree on a final price. In such a contract, the contractor is selected based primarily on qualifications, and a price is negotiated as design progresses.
James Harkness, chief engineer for the Maryland Transportation Authority, said the impasse came down to differing approaches. “It just boils down to the way that our contractor, Kiewit, wanted to build this job and what they needed to do,” Harkness said. “Our estimates did not match up with Kiewit’s at the end of the day, and we couldn’t come to an understanding of closing that gap significantly.”
Kiewit will continue its Phase 1 work — including driving foundation piles and building a temporary trestle — through December. The authority will host an industry forum in May to outline next steps in the procurement process.
Thomson said that union labor issues were not a factor in the cost dispute and that enhanced safety standards are already baked into the state’s estimates. “We will not compromise on safety standards,” she said. “But those standards are already built into our cost estimates, so we factor that in, and that should be part of the competitive process in pricing.”
The federal government has committed to covering 100 percent of the replacement cost. Thomson said that U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy — who has complained about the project’s mounting costs — has not been involved in negotiations but that Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) met with Duffy in January and that the two have had conversations since. The state and federal governments, she said, “are fully aligned on delivering a cost-effective bridge that meets the highest safety standards in the shortest amount of time.”
Thomson noted that the state attorney general has reached a settlement in principle with the owner and operator of the Dali, with proceeds going toward the bridge’s cost. The specific terms are expected to be announced in the coming days or weeks.
Moore said in a statement Tuesday that he had concluded that accepting Kiewit’s proposal was “not in the best interest of the people of Maryland and the American people. And I will not move forward with any arrangement that fails that test.”
“From the moment the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed, I have been unequivocal: we will rebuild this bridge safely, quickly, and cost-efficiently,” the governor’s statement said. “And we will never settle for less.”
Moore has previously said he wants to be “the governor that cuts the ribbon” on the new bridge, with officials tentatively projecting an opening date of late 2030.
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