Demolition work on Key Bridge remnants starts Monday

Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun on Jul 7, 2025

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Demolition work on the remaining pieces of the Francis Scott Key Bridge was expected to start Monday and continue over the next several months.

The effort begins this week with work mainly focused on “mobilizing assets and equipment,” said Maryland Transportation Authority Press Secretary Briana McEachern.

Crews will then start dismantling the remaining roadway over the Patapsco River, more than a year after the bridge’s main span plummeted into the water, killing five when a support pier was hit by the container ship Dali.

Preconstruction work on a new bridge, scheduled for completion in 2028, started in January. The new cable-stayed span is expected to cost up to $1.9 billion.

The remaining spans, which officials say interfere with the alignment of the new bridge, won’t go out with a bang — no controlled demolitions are planned.

Instead, crews are expected to take several months dismantling the remaining roadway over the river and then shifting to the still-standing beams and piers on the land-side approaches. The original bridge abutments — the land-based parts that support the bridge — will be taken out last.

The demolition work is subject to weather, and this week’s forecast calls for rain and storms as remnants of Tropical Depression Chantal pass through the mid-Atlantic.

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