The moment the Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed
A live stream camera captured the moment a cargo ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore and collapsed. (Courtesy: YouTube / Stream Time Live)
Annapolis, Md. – Led by the Maryland Board Gov. Wes Moore approved a $50.3 million emergency contract Wednesday to pay a Swedish construction company that removed the debris March Collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
While debris removal from a federal channel in the Patapsco River was handled by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Maryland hired Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc. in April. Also entered into an emergency agreement to remove debris from other channels that could be used. After the collapse by salvage and merchant ships.
Skanska was chosen because it successfully demolished the existing Nice/Middleton Bridge over the Potomac River, according to state records. The company was deemed fit and equipped to carry out the necessary operations quickly in the event of a bridge collapse.
Marshall Brown, speaking on behalf of the Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust in the Mid-Atlantic region, spoke against the agreement at a public works board meeting Wednesday. He said Maryland had time to consider a number of available contractors who could have been assembled to do the work. He said the emergency no-bid contract went against the state’s procurement process, which is designed to be fair, competitive and transparent.
“This does not meet the no-bid contract standards,” Brown said. “For those reasons, we stand strongly against the approval of this agreement.”
But Bruce Gartner, executive director of the Maryland Transportation Authority, said state engineers used their best professional judgment in the emergency and chose a company that was already working in the state.
“They were someone who was available in close proximity, and we knew they could comply with state procurement laws and respond to the situation,” said Gartner, who noted that the bridge collapse was “one of our most critical emergencies. had one. ever did.”
According to board documents, competitive bidding will delay debris removal by at least eight months.
At the board meeting, Moore said a lot of work remains to rebuild the bridge, which he called critical to Maryland and the national economy.
“We need to rebuild it,” Moore said. “The Port of Baltimore is an essential artery for economic flow, economic activity across the country, and to put it simply, our focus on getting this done is not about nostalgia, it’s about necessity.”
The governor, a Democrat, thanked President Joe Biden’s administration for including a 100% federal cost share for reconstruction in a supplemental budget to Congress last week. Moore said he is working to build a bipartisan coalition for reconstruction.
Maryland The new bridge is estimated to cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion. The state plans to build a new span by the fall of 2028.
Shortly after leaving Baltimore Harbor in the early hours of March 26, the cargo ship Daly lost power and propulsion and struck one of the bridge’s support columns, causing its collapse and killing six construction workers.