MD Studied Bay Bridge Vulnerability After Key Bridge Disaster: Report

ANNAPOLIS, MD — About two weeks after the deadly Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse on March 26, 2024, the Maryland Transportation Authority signed a contract to analyze the vulnerability of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to a ship strike, according to a report.

That reporting in a WBAL investigative story comes as the agency faced criticism from the National Transportation Safety Board that Maryland officials had taken no action to study the risk that the Key Bridge faced from a collision.

The $600,000 contract with Moffatt and Nichol was signed on April 9, 2024, tasking the company with evaluating the Bay Bridge and identifying ways to protect it, WBAL reported citing unnamed sources.

The evaluation phase is complete and safety recommendations are expected to be made this summer, WBAL said.

The discovery comes on the heels of two recently-released reports calling on the state to conduct a vulnerability assessment on the bridge to determine the risk of collapse.

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Last week, the National Transportation Safety Board released a report on the March 2024 Key Bridge collapse, documenting dozens of bridges across the nation that have "unknown levels of risk of collapse" from vessel collisions.

In Maryland, the Chesapeake City Bridge and both spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge are recommended to undergo a risk assessment.

The eastbound span of the Bay Bridge, built in 1951, and its westbound counterpart, constructed in 1973, are both deemed "critical/essential" crossings. The Chesapeake City Bridge, erected in 1948, is listed as "typical."

A second study released Monday by Johns Hopkins University also identified the Bay Bridge as one of 20 in the United States at high risk of collapse if struck by a ship.

Researchers with Johns Hopkins note that while ship strikes are extremely rare, some of the nation’s busiest bridges will likely be hit by ships within our lifetime, causing catastrophic damage.

According to the preliminary results, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is at risk of a collision every 86 years.