One Week Since the Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse

Questions remain over how much rebuilding the bridge will cost—and who will foot the bill.

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Happy Tuesday! Christy Kinahan, an Irish drug kingpin on the FBI’s most wanted list, has left a trail of restaurant, hotel, and grocery store reviews worldwide. Even while on the lam, he wants to let you know that you really should try the lamb. 

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

  • An airstrike in Damascus, Syria, on Monday reportedly killed three high-ranking Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) generals in an attack the Iranian and Syrian governments are attributing to Israel. The strike targeted a building next to the Iranian embassy and also killed four officers in the Quds Force—the IRGC’s espionage and paramilitary wing. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, one of the generals allegedly killed in the attack, was a U.S.-sanctioned Quds Force commander in charge of operations in Syria and Lebanon, where he led Iran’s engagement with and arming of Hezbollah. Israeli officials have not commented directly on the attack, but Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), claimed that Israeli intelligence showed the strike did not target a consulate or embassy but rather “a military building of Quds forces disguised as a civilian building.” American officials have reportedly told Iran that Washington had “no involvement” in the attack, as the U.S. and Israel brace for the possibility of Iranian retaliation.
  • U.S. and Israeli officials met virtually on Monday to discuss disagreements between the two governments over Israel’s planned ground operation in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza. The talks—described in a White House statement as “constructive engagement”—produced an agreement for an in-person meeting with the same group of officials as early as next week. The news comes just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had canceled plans for an Israeli delegation to visit Washington, D.C., after the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in a vote from which the U.S. abstained. Meanwhile, the IDF said Monday it was investigating reports that an Israeli air strike killed seven aid workers, including several foreign nationals, delivering food aid on behalf of World Central Kitchen (WCK), a humanitarian organization founded by celebrity chef José Andrés.
  • An investigation published Sunday by “60 Minutes,” The Insider, and Der Spiegel claimed that Russia’s military intelligence agency is likely behind “Havana Syndrome,” a name given to the mysterious and often debilitating neurological symptoms that have affected hundreds of U.S. government personnel at home and abroad in recent years. The investigative team spoke to individuals who believe they have been affected by the syndrome, investigators, and a retired army lieutenant colonel, Greg Edgreen, who led the Department of Defense’s inquiry into the phenomenon. He assessed that the Russian government had developed an “acoustic weapon” that is allegedly responsible for headaches, dizziness, hearing loss, and other symptoms. A report on the incidents released last March by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that it is “very unlikely” a hostile government is responsible for the health episodes.
  • In a 6-1 decision handed down Monday, the Florida Supreme Court held that the state’s constitutional privacy provisions do not cover abortion access. The ruling upholds Florida’s previous ban on abortions after 15 weeks and allows a six-week ban that was passed last April to go into effect in 30 days. In a separate, 4-3 decision also released yesterday, the court approved language for a ballot initiative that, if it receives 60 percent support in November, would preserve abortion access in the state until the point of fetal viability—usually at about 24 weeks of gestation—effectively undoing the six-week ban.
  • Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Donald Trump’s New York criminal trial, on Monday granted a request from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to expand a gag order on Trump to include barring the former president from attacking Bragg’s and Merchan’s families. A gag order issued last week ordered Trump not to target witnesses in the case, prosecutors other than Bragg, jurors, court staff, or their families, but after Trump published a series of posts on Truth Social railing against Merchan’s daughter, a Democratic consultant, the judge extended the restriction. “This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose,” Merchan wrote in his ruling.
  • Trump posted a $175 million bond in a New York civil fraud case on Monday, pausing the enforcement of a $464 million judgment while he appeals the penalty. The bond was underwritten by a California-based insurance company, though it’s unclear what Trump used as collateral. If Trump fails in his appeal of the ruling, he will be liable for the full judgment amount.
  • The NCAA basketball tournaments’ respective Final Fours are set. On the men’s side, Purdue will play North Carolina State and Alabama will face off against the University of Connecticut. In the women’s tournament, North Carolina State will play South Carolina and the University of Connecticut will face off against Iowa.

The Key to the City 

Wreckage from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the Dali cargo ship on March 30, 2024, as efforts begin to clear the debris and reopen the Port of Baltimore. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Wreckage from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge rests on the Dali cargo ship on March 30, 2024, as efforts begin to clear the debris and reopen the Port of Baltimore. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

One week ago, Baltimore residents awoke to find that the Francis Scott Key Bridge was gone. 

Instead of standing watch over the entrance to the port of Baltimore, the “picturesque” steel structure that had spanned the Patapsco River for almost half a century was crumpled in ruins over the deck of the Dali, a container ship that had rammed into one of the pylons supporting the structure around 1:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. 

The disaster—which killed six members of a road crew who had been working on the bridge in the early morning hours—rocked the city of Baltimore and shuttered one of the most active ports on the Eastern seaboard, with serious effects for the people who work there. It’s still unclear how long it will take to rebuild the bridge, how much it will cost, and—crucially—who will pay for it. President Joe Biden—set to visit the site Friday—has promised federal funds to resurrect Key Bridge, but he is already facing pushback from Republicans in what could become a messy partisan fight should congressionally appropriated funds become necessary.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Stephens Parker

    Federal funding needs to be looked at very cautiously with the size of our deficit. The ship owners should be held responsible, but federal funds could be used as a “BridgeLoan” (pun intended). Entities that rely on that infrastructure should also bear some of the burden.

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    1. Dhafvens

      Approve the thought and the wordplay!

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  2. Francis Bemis

    Excellent job. Thank you.

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  3. Trichwages

    LUK: I have no problem with using Federal funds at the same time the US also demands reimbursement from the owner.

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    1. BPhillips

      Seems like the only realistic answer too - it might take years to get the money from the shipping company or their insurance - in the mean time we need to get the port up & running.

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  4. Robert Almes

    Not just one entity - whomever loses the most by the bridge's absence: government (national,state, and local), and commercial, proportionately, supplemented by insurance.

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  5. BDM

    LUK: It seems that no single entity should be responsible for the bridge cleanup and rebuild. The 10% mentioned in the article for the state of Maryland to pay doesn't seem unreasonable at all. The shipping company and it's insurers should certainly be liable for a portion. How much depends largely on whether investigations discover negligence on the part of the shipping company. Along those lines, reportedly the ship underwent maintenance shortly before the crash. If the power loss turns out to have been caused by something done - or not done that should have been - during that work, and it was the responsibility of the shipping company or a hired maintenance contractor, the responsible party should pay. All of that said, I expect a project of this size to be funded the same way any major highway infrastructure project is and the state of Maryland's share should probably be along the same lines.

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  6. Richard Kennedy

    The Vesuvius Challenge reminds me of an idea I’ve been kicking around for a few years now. It is mocked by friends who are serious Climate Change proponents. I’ve come up with a name.
    The Terra Nova Prize. It is for the person, organization, whoever comes up with a broadly applicable technology, product, or collection of products that overcome the problems of energy production efficiently for net zero goals. Say, $20 Billion as a prize to start the bidding.

    I don’t understand why it is not obvious that we can’t pave the prairies with solar panels with forests of windmills giving them shadow. Is it plausible to have technology(s) that store and hold large amounts of power for wide and possibly long range distribution? And possibly with light weight adaption for vehicles? And hopefully without the need to strip mine for exotic and right now unknown materials? What is wrong with my dream?

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    1. JG

      You're assuming that the powers that be actually want to solve the problem. Nuclear could get well solve our problem, but many groups are working hard to ensure it never happens.

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      1. Richard Kennedy

        I know. However, I’m reading of closed reactors being restarted. I’ve always wondered why most all of our largest ships, and probably these new sleek models are nuclear powered. I’m also reading of shrinking the size and range of reactors. Would one need to have a PHD in Physics to run a nuke semi, or train engine?
        However, is nuclear the one stop solution? I don’t think it was ever supposed to hip check the internal combustion engine into the boards. If a net zero solution shuts down individual freedom of movement (my 10 minute drive to my job is probably a brisk 45 minute walk. For how long, I’m iminently 71), the U.S. will probably have to morph into many Ameristans. I think there must be more to it than nuclear. Weight, rare ingredients, poor storage of energy, and impractical deterioration of energy capability bother me about EVs. If something could be done about that, EVs could seriously do damage to the combustion engine. That’s what got me thinking about this years ago.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Paul.Heuring

    This is the U.S. in 2024! We can pay for the bridge using federal funds and then let the courts decide on the amounts from the insurer, the shipping company, and others responsible. Let's put this litigious society we've created to work on this, for heaven's sake! The lawyers must be paid! (Just in case it's not obvious, this is all sarcasm.)

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  8. Avatar photo
    David Lesieur

    I've worked in property/casualty insurance for 30 years. I'm not guaranteeing I have this right, but here's my take:

    The way it should work is that the property / marine insurers of the bridge's owner (in this case I believe the State of Maryland) would pay for the repairs. It's not immediate, as there is usually some discussion about the proper replacement cost (for instance, this article talks about making improvements to the bridge, the cost of which insurers don't cover), but typically some money is paid quickly so demolition / clean-up / repairs can begin. The insurers would then try to extract money from the shipping company and its insurers and/or any other parties who could be considered liable. The government shouldn't need to be involved. (now who's being naive?) That's the easy part.

    Who is going to pay for the loss of income to the Port of Baltimore and all the companies that rely on it to import / export goods? That part could take years to resolve, and I'd imagine quite a lot of money is involved.

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    1. Harry

      I'm involved with the trucking industry. There is a requirement for cargo insurance and 2 types of liability insurance. Cargo insurance depends on what you haul. Pipe, steel, lumber etc. , usually require around 150 thousand. However, the 2 types of liability are for 1 million each. I feel sure a shipping company is required to have similar coverage, multiplied several times, where the liability for property damage is exponentially higher than for the cargo. Still, replacing this bridge will take billions and it will definitely stay in court a long time.

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  9. Avatar photo
    Treadmill

    Several years ago, I attended an event in Seattle called "Hack the Machine" where a group of maritime industry and security entities had set up a mock ship control system complete with rudder, engine, and ballast controls in a CAN bus configuration. The goal was to "own" the operational systems via web-facing systems, physical interfaces, and anything else we could think of. Some techniques were effective, others were less so; it was an interesting exercise at least.

    All that's to say:

    That ship better undergo a damn thorough digital forensic examination as soon as it's possible. What an incredible attack vector if this was done maliciously.

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  10. Avatar photo
    George.Skinner

    If the bridge is going to be reconstructed expeditiously, the federal government is going to have to step in and pay for it. Getting the state to kick in some funds would be reasonable as well. Governments can then take their time attempting to recover costs from the ship owner and insurers. However, when you try to involve too many parties including insurers, you get into a situation like 1 World Trade Center where it took 5 years to agree to a plan and another 5-7 years to build following the 9/11 attack.

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    1. Mwupton

      Exactly. It's important to distinguish between who funds the cleanup and rebuilding and who ultimately pays for it at the end of the day. I would prefer Congress to lead the efforts on a spending bill for the project, but we don't have normal order these days. After the border bill fiasco I've lost faith in the GOP members of congress to do anything that could even be perceived as helping the Biden administration.

      It's a US port which impacts interstate commerce, and is therefore totally reasonable to propose federal funding for the rebuilding effort. The "absurd" and "outrageous" comments from representatives are themselves, absurd and outrageous.

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      1. BDM

        My impression was that the legislators' complaints were in response to President Biden's promise that the federal government would foot the entire bill, which presumably, would not be the case with the "typical" infrastructure replacement/repair project.

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        1. Mwupton

          In that context it's a reasonable complaint. There is a big difference between the federal government partially funding due because of some national interest rather than jumping in and saying they will take on the whole thing.

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