A year after the Baltimore bridge collapse, a long road to recovery is
ahead
[March 26, 2025]
By LEA SKENE and BRIAN WITTE
BALTIMORE (AP) — A year after the catastrophic collapse of Baltimore’s
Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland leaders are honoring the six
construction workers who were killed that night when the road they were
repairing buckled underneath them.
“Ever since that moment, we’ve done everything in that vein to remember,
first, those people that we lost,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said
after a ceremony commemorating the anniversary. “That’s what today is
about.”
While police were able to stop traffic in the moments before a massive
cargo ship plowed into the bridge, they didn’t have time to alert the
overnight roadwork crew.
After the collapse, the Port of Baltimore was closed for months since
debris blocked its main shipping channel. It made an impressive rebound
during the second half of 2024, but now the Trump administration’s
tariffs could threaten its ongoing recovery.
Just last week, federal investigators criticized the Maryland
Transportation Authority for failing to determine and address the
bridge’s vulnerability to ship strikes — despite major changes in
maritime shipping since it opened to traffic in 1977. They called upon
other bridge owners to learn from the example.
In the meantime, Maryland drivers are without the Key Bridge, which
connected various port-oriented industrial communities north and south
of Baltimore, allowing people to easily bypass downtown. Traffic has
since increased significantly on the main alternate routes.
Named after the man who penned the national anthem during the War of
1812, the Key Bridge was a beloved feature of Baltimore’s skyline and a
symbol of its proud working-class history.
Here’s what to know about the bridge’s collapse — and its replacement.
When disaster struck
It was just after 2 a.m. on March 26, 2024, when Gov. Wes Moore got a
call from his chief of staff, Fagan Harris. His words weren’t easy to
grasp: “Governor, I’m sorry to tell you, but the Key Bridge is gone,”
Moore recounted to The Associated Press.
“What do you mean ‘gone?’” the governor remembered asking.
Moore soon learned that a ship had lost power and crashed into one of
the bridge’s supporting columns, killing the six workers — whose
assignment that night was filling potholes on the bridge.
Once he grasped the scale of the tragedy, Moore said, the morning became
a stream of phone calls.
“It was just chaos going on at that moment, because I knew that
Marylanders were … hours away from waking up to realize that one of the
greatest tragedies in our state’s history had just occurred,” Moore
said.
Collective shock and progress
People gathered by the water’s edge to view the wreckage. In the weeks
and months that followed, they watched as crews worked diligently to
clear the wreckage.
Initially blocked by debris, the main shipping channel to the Port of
Baltimore reopened in 11 weeks.
“We got it done in 11 weeks, because we cut through the red tape,” Moore
said. “We cut through bureaucracy, and we worked together as a state —
as local leadership, federal leadership, the military, the private
sector, everyone worked so well together.”
Honoring the victims
On Tuesday, city and state leaders invited the victims’ families to
visit the collapse site for a wreath-laying ceremony.
About a dozen relatives boarded the city’s fireboat, which chugged
steadily toward the mouth of the Patapsco River where the Key Bridge
once stood. As they approached its skeletal remains, the mood turned
somber, punctuated by the sound of two women weeping.
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A family member of one of the workers who died during the collapse
of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore tosses a wreath into
the Chesapeake Bay in observance of the one-year anniversary of the
disaster, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
One by one, family members stepped to the back of the boat and
tossed wreaths of yellow and white flowers into the water, watching
them drift away.
The six men were all Latino immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking
better wages and brighter futures. Most had lived in the country for
many years and worked hard to support their families.
“The victims were just doing their job, and that’s just tragic,”
said Baltimore police Det. Aaron Jackson, a member of the
department’s dive team who helped recover the bodies during a
painstaking search process that lasted several weeks. “But we’re
glad we could bring some level of closure.”
A new bridge in the works
Officials say the new bridge should be finished sometime in 2028.
They unveiled designs last month for what will become Maryland’s
first cable-stayed bridge. It could cost upwards of $1.7 billion but
Congress has agreed to cover the full price tag for rebuilding.
Crews have been conducting soil testing and other work to finalize
the designs. They plan to demolish the remaining pieces of the Key
Bridge this spring.
Officials have said the designs will include the latest in pier
protection technology, which has become increasingly important as
cargo ships continue to get bigger and carry more cargo. The bridge
will also be taller to provide more clearance.
Baltimore's port rebounds
Last month, the port announced that 2024 ended up being one of its
most productive years — with 45.9 million tons of cargo passing
through its facilities — second only to the year before, which saw a
record 52.3 million tons.
The port also processed more farm and construction machinery than
any other port in the country again in 2024. It ranked second for
cars and light trucks, officials said.
Daraius Irani, chief economist for the Regional Economic Studies
Institute at Towson University, described the rebound as “sort of a
miracle.”
But he said the potential impacts of the Trump administration’s
tariffs present an ominous cloud, especially because roughly a
quarter of the port’s total imports come from Mexico, Canada and
China. Tariffs could mean fewer goods will pass through the port,
which would lead to reduced revenue, Irani said.
Ongoing federal investigations
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating
what caused the collapse, said its final report could be released in
fall 2025.
Meanwhile, the board issued urgent safety recommendations last week,
telling bridge owners to conduct vulnerability assessments. The
recommendations apply to 30 owners of 68 bridges across 19 states.
The board is still investigating what caused the cargo ship Dali to
lose power as it approached the Key Bridge. In an earlier update,
investigators said they discovered a loose cable that could have
caused electrical issues on the Dali. The ship experienced blackouts
twice in the hours before it left the Port of Baltimore en route to
Sri Lanka.
The FBI also opened a criminal investigation into the circumstances
leading up to the collapse but haven’t yet provided any updates.
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