NTSB Set to Vote on Cause of Baltimore Bridge Disaster
Projected Replacement Cost Doubles to Up to $5.2 Billion
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The National Transportation Safety Board is set to vote on its findings into what caused a massive containership toĚýcrash last yearĚýinto Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed and killed six construction workers.
The board's vote on Nov. 18 is scheduled a day after Maryland officialsĚýmore than doubled the estimated costĚýto replace the bridge and added two years onto the projected completion date — to 2030. The new projected cost is between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion, compared to the previous estimate of about $1.9 billion.
Gov. Wes Moore said Nov. 17 that preliminary estimates for the cost and timeline of the rebuild were made less than two weeks afterĚýthe bridge collapsed in March 2024.
“Since then, national economic conditions have deteriorated and material costs have increased,” Moore, a Democrat, said. “At the same time, elevated costs have resulted from federal design and resilience standards — not discretionary state choices.”
The board is meeting in Washington to vote on a probable cause, safety recommendations and any changes to a previous report.
Rendering of the replacement of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, with downtown Baltimore on the left and the Port of Baltimore on the right. (Office of the Governor of Maryland via Associated Press)
Investigators previouslyĚýdiscovered a loose cableĚýthat could have caused electrical issues on the cargo ship called the Dali, which lost power and veered off course before striking the bridge, according to documents released last year by the NTSB.
When disconnected, the problematic cable triggered an electrical blackout on the ship similar to what happened as it approached the bridge on March 26, 2024, according to the previously released documents by the NTSB.
The Dali was leaving Baltimore bound for Sri Lanka when its steering failed because of the power loss. The 947-foot cargo ship then crashed into a supporting column of the bridge about 1:30 a.m., causing the bridge to collapse into the Patapsco River.
Safety investigators releasedĚýa preliminary reportĚýlast year that documented a series of power issues on the ship before and after its departure from Baltimore.
Explosive charges are detonated to bring down sections of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge resting on the containership Dali on May 13, 2024,Ěý in Baltimore. (Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press)
Records released by the NTSB after that preliminary report said the Dali first experienced loss of power when it was still docked in Baltimore. That was after a crew member mistakenly closed an exhaust damper while conducting maintenance, causing one of the ship’s diesel engines to stall, according to the earlier report. Crew members then made changes to the ship’s electrical configuration, switching from one transformer and breaker system — which had been in use for several months — to a second that was active upon its departure.
That second transformer and breaker system is where investigators found the loose cable, according to investigative reports.
Engineers from Hyundai, the manufacturer of the ship’s electrical system, said the loose cable could create an open circuit and cause a breaker to open, according to a 41-page report detailing tests completed on the Dali in the weeks after the collapse. The engineers disconnected the cable as part of a simulation, which resulted in a blackout on the ship.
Six men on a road crew, who were filling potholes during an overnight shift, fell to their deaths when the bridge collapsed. The collapse snarled commercial shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore for months before the channel was fully opened that June.
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The NTSBĚýhas criticizedĚýthe Maryland Transportation Authority for failing to address the bridge’s vulnerability to ship strikes — despite major changes in maritime shipping since it opened to traffic in 1977. The board has called on other bridge owners to learn from the example.
The bridge, a long-standing Baltimore landmark, was a vital piece of transportation infrastructure that allowed drivers to easily bypass downtown. The original 1.6-mile steel span took five years to construct and opened to traffic in 1977. It was particularly important for the city’s port operations.
Crews have been working on knocking down remaining spans of the bridge, a process that began in July.
