Maryland bridges among nation's busiest for ship traffic, according to study inspired by Key Bridge collapse shows

BALTIMORE -- Maryland's Francis Scott Key Bridge and Bay Bridge are among the nation's top 10 bridges with the most ships passing through, according to a study conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers. 

The research, which aimed to find which bridges are at risk of a catastrophic collapse, was sparked by the March 26 collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge. 

Michael Shields, Associate Professor of Civil and Systems Engineering at Johns Hopkins University, the lead investigator for the study, said these initial findings are the first phase of the study.

Researchers have been looking at over six years worth of U.S. Coast Guard data, examining ship traffic under major bridges across the country.

"To our knowledge, no one has ever actually poured over that data to ask what is the traffic under all of these bridges," Shields said. "That is the first piece of going into any risk assessment."

The findings found the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in New York City, the Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Georgia and the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in California have the most traffic from the largest ships.

Shields said that while ship traffic helps show which bridges need the most attention for risk assessment, there are many other factors.

"We need to look more carefully at local conditions, local water conditions, local shipping practices, protections for these bridges: those are the sort of things that really need to be more carefully studied," he said.

The next phase of the study will be looking at the frequency of ships straying off course while passing under the country's bridges.

More findings are expected to be released in 2025.

Rebuilding the bridge

These findings come as the Maryland Department of the Environment is seeking permit approvals to begin the next phase of the Key Bridge rebuild.

Kiewit Infrastructure Company was approved as the contractor to design and build the replacement bridge. Kiewit estimates the rebuild will cost about $1.2 billion. 

The project is set to begin in 2025.

Mounting lawsuits

Numerous lawsuits have been lodged against the owner and operator of the cargo ship Dali.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages. Brawner Builders, the company that employed the construction workers who were on the bridge during the collapse, also filed a lawsuit calling for an unspecified amount of damages.

Most notably, the families of the victims filed complaints Friday, all asking for unspecified punitive damages.

At a news conference last week, a lawyer representing some of the victims' families said the families were initially interested in looking at whether or not the Dali's owner could limit its liability in the collapse.

Not long after the collapse, Grace Ocean Private Ltd filed to cap its liability to nearly $44 million.

Baltimore City, Baltimore County and numerous other businesses have also filed lawsuits against the Dali's owner and operator.