A YEAR IN REVIEW: ADVANCING THE FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE REBUILD Calendar year 2025 spelled progress as the Francis Scott Key Bridge Rebuild team made significant strides along the Pata- psco River, advancing from early pre-construction activities to driving massive steel test piles and removing the old bridge decks and columns. Crews have been engaged on location, in the community, and behind the scenes working in collabo- ration with federal partners to ensure progress is being made every day. From the early pre-construction days during the frigid winter months, to the long hot summer days during dem- olition, the team never wavered in the mission to reconnect, revitalize, and reimagine a new Key Bridge. PRE-CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES Pre-construction activities began in January and involved rigorous research, detailed surveying, calculations, and sam- pling. The work provides engineers with critical data to inform and refine the bridge’s design. MDTA crews and Kiewit Infrastructure Corporation contrac- tors conducted extensive geotechnical investigations. MDTA Chief Engineer Jim Harkness said they collected soil samples from as deep as 200 feet beneath the surface of the water Reporters getting footage of pre-construction activities. FRANCIS SCOTT KEY BRIDGE REBUILD
and land. He said understanding the subsurface conditions is essential to designing strong bridge foundations. “Each of those 100 locations yields information about the soil type, density and properties, as well as the depth at which those soils are located,” Harkness said. “And all of that data comes together to inform our bridge foundation design.” Crews surveyed and mapped the area, collecting topographic data, right-of-way boundaries and subsurface utility mapping to support construction planning. Engineers conducted wind tunnel testing on a model of the bridge to study its response to a variety of wind loads. They also used a model of the bridge foundation for scour testing, which simulated how water moves around the bridge’s foundation and piles to understand impacts on the riverbed. In addition, crews completed more than 1,000 property inspections to establish baseline conditions ahead of major construction work. “The inspections allow us to understand the condition of those properties prior to doing any real construction activity out at the site,” Harkness said. “We were able to document that for future use and make sure that we are being good neighbors during construction.” MDTA crews also installed noise and vibration monitoring de- vices to regularly track sound levels throughout construction.
12 MARYLAND TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY 2025 ANNUAL REPORT
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