Maryland governor diverts blame from MDTA over Key Bridge assessment
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said there isn't a bridge in the country that could have withstood a strike from a ship the size of the Dali, which crashed into the Key Bridge in 2024, causing it to collapse.
In his first public comments since the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that a critical vulnerability assessment was missed on the Key Bridge, Moore deflected the blame from the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA).
The governor says the owners and operators of the Dali are at fault for the March 26, 2024, collapse, which killed six construction workers.
"The Federal Highway Administration and the federal government had claimed, and continue to state, that the Key Bridge was not the issue," Moore said. "The issue, and I was speaking with the former transportation secretary about it, was that we had a ship the size of three football fields, that when you have a ship at that size moving at that speed, and what he told me was, 'There wasn't a bridge in the country that could have taken that impact.'"
The NTSB said the Dali lost power four times in 12 hours before ultimately crashing into the bridge.
"Protecting our bridges is the highest priority"
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the MDTA didn't perform vulnerability assessments on the Key Bridge, which are used to find unknown safety issues with bridges nationwide.
However, Gov. Moore said on Fox News on Sunday that the Key Bridge has passed every federal assessment for more than 30 years.
"When you look at the reckless behavior of the Dali, that's the sole reason for it, but I also know that protecting our bridges is the highest priority," Moore said.
Homendy said had the state conducted the vulnerability assessment and calculation, it would've known the bridge's risk of collapse if hit by a vessel.
"The MDTA would've had information to proactively identify strategies to reduce the risk of a collapse and loss of lives associated with a vessel collision with the bridge," Homendy said.
NTSB said their findings revealed the level of risk for a catastrophic collapse was nearly 30 times higher than acceptable risk levels for the Key Bridge and 15 times higher, specifically for Pier 17, one of the bridge's main pillars that was struck by the cargo ship.
According to investigators, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation issued safety recommendations for the Key Bridge in 1991 and 2009, but those recommendations were never executed. Homendy says the MDTA sat on a subcommittee to draft these recommendations.
The MDTA issued a statement saying, "The collapse was the sole fault of the Dali and the gross negligence of her owners."
"Over the past 50 years, hundreds of thousands of vessels transited under the Key Bridge without incident," the statement continued. "The Key Bridge, like other bridges in America, was approved and permitted by the federal government and in compliance with those permits."
Bay Bridge protection efforts
Governor Moore said Maryland has spent $160 million in the last year on protecting the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in the aftermath of the Key Bridge collapse.
The Bay Bridge was one of 68 bridges in the United States recommended by the NTSB to have a vulnerability assessment to determine the risk of a bridge collapse from a vessel collision.
The NTSB says the MDTA has yet to conduct a vulnerability assessment and calculation on the Bay Bridge, which has similar vessel traffic to the Key Bridge.
"As part of our investigation, we asked, 'Had you done this vulnerability assessment on the Key Bridge?' The answer was no. We then asked, 'Are you doing this vulnerability assessment on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge?' The answer was no," Homendy said.
The MDTA said in a statement those evaluations were already underway when the NTSB requested the data in the fall. It also says it will cooperate with the NTSB and provide the requested information within 30 days.
Moore says the NTSB announcement was not targeted at the state, but rather sounding the alarm to federal leaders.
"They were actually putting out a siren call to Congress saying that there are over 60 bridges, 60 around the country that have this same type of challenge," Moore said. "We will continue cooperating with the NTSB, but I think it wasn't just a statement to us, I think it was a statement to the rest of the country."
The NTSB mentioned that their recommendation does not suggest that the 68 bridges are certain to collapse, but rather those bridge owners should evaluate whether the bridges are above the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials' acceptable level of risk.
The 68 bridges were divided into two categories, "critical/essential" and "typical." Those deemed critical/essential are those that serve as "important links." The Key Bridge had this classification. Those that are not deemed critical/essential fall under the typical designation.
"As for the existing bridge, we know that they have not done that," Homendy said. "That vulnerability assessment takes a long time. There's no reason why they shouldn't have done it before now. It shouldn't take an urgent safety recommendation to take action, and we expect that to be done now."'
The bridges recommended for a vulnerability assessment are listed here.
Johns Hopkins is expected to release a new report on Monday on the risks of ships hitting other bridges nationwide.
