#new Its been two years since Baltimore’s Key Bridge Collapse and virtually nothing has been completed on the rebuild, costs have doubled and completion date has been extended to late 2030.
“Wasteful “DEI contracting practices” are to blame according to the Trump administration
The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River in March of 2024, after the container ship MV Dali slammed into it, ki*ling six construction workers and severing a major artery for one of the nation’s busiest ports.
Democrats, led by then-President Joe Biden and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, promised to rebuild quickly for the bargain price of about $1.9 billion vowing traffic would be moving again by 2028.
However, as of this month, bureaucratic red tape, federally mandated over-engineering, and skyrocketing material costs under Biden-era economic conditions, is a there is to show for progress.
Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has flagged the project as wasteful “DEI contracting practices” saying they’ve produced little more than preliminary work, doubled (or more) price tags, and set a new target opening of late 2030.
Virtually none of the replacement structures exist.
The project is stuck in demolition, testing, and pre-construction phases of work that experts say should have already been wrapped up.
Demolition started July 2025 – over a year after the bridge collapsed – it’s incomplete.
The design is 70% complete – 2 years later and zero superstructure or piers for the actual replacement span are complete.
The rebuild has added two full years and more than doubled in projected cost — now $4.3 billion to $5.2 billion
Republicans argue this is why merit-based contracting, streamlined permitting, and private-sector urgency matter, saying America is used to building big things fast – but when government-as-usual steps in, things don’t get done.
