After Key Bridge, Maryland Plans to Protect Bay Bridge From Ship Strikes

The Maryland Transportation Authority has completed a study of the survivability of its Chesapeake Bay Bridge in the event of a ship strike, and has concluded that the piers need more protection to meet modern safety standards. The agency had been under pressure to complete the report because of the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.

The ship strike that collapsed the Key Bridge killed six people in March 2024, and the replacement will cost billions. The National Transportation Safety Board has determined that the accident could have been prevented with adequate risk analysis and pier protection, and NTSB has called on 30 bridge owning authorities to conduct standard safety assessments on 68 at-risk bridge spans across the United States. NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy singled out MDTA, the Francis Scott Key Bridge's owner, and said that the state agency had still not completed an assessment of the nearby Chesapeake Bay Bridge - also on NTSB's list of vulnerable spans.

That review is now done, MDTA said Monday. The agency told NTSB that it spent $600,000 studying the vulnerability of the Bay Bridge's piers to a possible ship strike, and it has concluded that it needs to up-armor the pier bases. That would likely include more fenders and new dolphins, large rock-and-concrete islands that are massive enough to keep runaway ships away from the piers.

Shorter-term risk reduction strategies could include new communication protocols for vessel pilots, reduced vessel speeds, one-way transits, and new ways to manage vehicle traffic on the bridge spans. MDTA did not include tug escorts on the possibility list.

The budgeted cost of the refit program is in the range of $160 million, MDTA said - though it noted that this investment is voluntary, and that the Bay Bridge already meets legal standards for legacy spans (even if it does not meet the safety recommendations set by industry association AASHTO).

The Bay Bridge's twin spans are nearing their due date for replacement, so the infrastructure built for their protection now could be incorporated into a future bridge down the road, the agency's chief engineer told the Baltimore Banner earlier this year.