
The Francis Scott Key Bridge (informally, Key Bridge or Beltway Bridge) was a
steel
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
arch
continuous through truss bridge that spanned the lower
Patapsco River
The Patapsco River ( ) mainstem is a river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore. With its South Branch, the Patapsco forms the northern border of Howar ...
and outer
Baltimore Harbor/Port. Opened on March 23, 1977, it carried the
Baltimore Beltway
Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...
(
Interstate 695 or I-695) between
Dundalk
Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...
and
Hawkins Point. It collapsed on March 26, 2024, after a container ship struck one of its
piers.
Officials have announced plans to
replace the bridge by fall 2028.
Initially named the Outer Harbor Crossing, the bridge was renamed in 1976 for poet
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became t ...
, who wrote the lyrics to "
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...
", the U.S.
national anthem
A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...
. At , it was the second-longest bridge in the
Baltimore metropolitan area
The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). It is part of the larger ...
, after the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge
The Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge (informally called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and, locally, the Bay Bridge) is a major twin bridges, dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the ...
. Its main span of was the
third-longest of any continuous truss in the world.
[Durkee, Jackson]
World's Longest Bridge Spans
, National Steel Bridge Alliance, May 24, 1999.
Operated by the
Maryland Transportation Authority
The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) is an independent state agency responsible for financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining eight transportation facilities, currently consisting of two toll roads, two tunnels, and four bridg ...
(MDTA), the bridge was the outermost of three
toll crossings of
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
's harbor, along with the
Baltimore Harbor
The Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore is a shipping port along the tidal basins of the three branches of the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, on the upper northwest shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is the nation's largest port facil ...
and
Fort McHenry
Fort McHenry is a historical American Coastal defense and fortification, coastal bastion fort, pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, Baltimore, Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War ...
tunnels. It carried an estimated 11.5 million vehicles annually, including trucks carrying
hazardous materials
Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...
prohibited in the tunnels. It completed the last gap in I-695's circuit of the city, although the bridge roadway was officially a state road: the unsigned
Maryland Route 695.
[ ]
History
Construction
By the early 1960s, the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (Interstate 895), the first crossing of Baltimore's Harbor, had reached its traffic capacity. The
Maryland State Roads Commission
The Maryland State Highway Administration (MDSHA, MDOT SHA, or simply SHA) is the state mode responsible for maintaining Maryland's numbered highways outside Baltimore. Formed originally under authority of the General Assembly of Maryland in ...
concluded there was a need for a second harbor crossing. They began planning another single-tube
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...
under the
Patapsco River
The Patapsco River ( ) mainstem is a river in central Maryland that flows into the Chesapeake Bay. The river's tidal portion forms the harbor for the city of Baltimore. With its South Branch, the Patapsco forms the northern border of Howar ...
, downstream and to the southeast, between Hawkins Point and Sollers Point in the outer harbor. In October 1968, this Outer Harbor Tunnel project received financing through a $220 million
bond issue
In finance, a bond is a type of security under which the issuer (debtor) owes the holder (creditor) a debt, and is obliged – depending on the terms – to provide cash flow to the creditor (e.g. repay the principal (i.e. amount borrowed) of t ...
(equivalent to $ billion in ) that also funded the twinning of the
Chesapeake Bay Bridge
The Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge (informally called the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and, locally, the Bay Bridge) is a major twin bridges, dual-span bridge in the U.S. state of Maryland. Spanning the Chesapeake Bay, it connects the ...
.
But when the bids to build the tunnel were opened in July 1970, they were substantially higher than expected. So officials drafted alternative proposals, including a four-lane
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...
, which had the advantage of providing a route across Baltimore Harbor for vehicles carrying
hazardous materials
Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...
barred from tunnels.
In April 1971, the
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland that convenes within the State House in Annapolis. It is a bicameral body: the upper chamber, the Maryland Senate, has 47 representatives, and the lower ...
approved the bridge project. The
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
issued a bridge permit in June 1972, replacing the earlier approval of the tunnel by the
Army Corps of Engineers.
Baltimore engineering firm
J. E. Greiner Company was selected as the primary design consultant, with the side approaches being handled by New York City's Singstad, Kehart, November & Hurka in joint venture with Baltimore Transportation Associates, Inc. The construction was to be performed by the John F. Beasley Construction Company with material fabricated by the
Pittsburgh-Des Moines Steel Co.
Construction of the Outer Harbor Bridge began in 1972,
several years behind schedule and $33 million over budget. Each of the bridge's main piers—Nos. 17 and 18—was
protected by
dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...
upstream and downstream, each with a 25-foot-diameter sheet pile filled with
tremie
A tremie is a watertight pipe, usually of about 250 mm inside diameter (150 to 300 mm), with a conical hopper at its upper end above the water level. It may have a loose plug or a valve at the bottom end. A tremie is usually used to pour concr ...
concrete with a reinforced concrete cap. These piers also had 17-foot
fender system: crushable thin-walled concrete boxes of 100 by 84.5 feet, clad with timber members and steel plate at the base.
In 1976, as construction went on, the bridge was named for
Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became t ...
, the author of "The Defence of Fort M'Henry", the poem upon which "
The Star-Spangled Banner
"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written by American lawyer Francis Scott Key on September 14, 1814, after he witnessed the bombardment of Fort ...
" is based. Key was inspired to write the poem after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry during the
Battle of Baltimore
The Battle of Baltimore took place between British and American forces on September 12–15, 1814 during the War of 1812. Defending American forces repulsed sea and land invasions off the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, by British fo ...
in September 1814. Key had been aboard an American truce ship with the British Royal Navy fleet in Baltimore Harbor near Sollers Point; the approximate location is within of the bridge and marked by a
buoy
A buoy (; ) is a buoyancy, floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.
History
The ultimate origin of buoys is unknown, but by 1295 a seaman's manual referred to navig ...
in the colors of the U.S. flag.
Operation
The Key Bridge opened to traffic on March 23, 1977.
The bridge project was in length with of approach road.
In 1978, the bridge received an Award of Merit from the
American Institute of Steel Construction
The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association for the use of structural steel in the construction industry of the United States.
AISC publishes the Steel Construction Manual, a ...
in the Long Span category.
In 1980, a cargo ship collided with the Key Bridge, but the bridge was relatively undamaged.
The bridge opened with four lanes, but its approaches were two lanes to reduce costs.
The south approach was widened in 1983. A project for the north approach was completed in 1999 after several years of delays.
In July 2013, the toll for cars was $4. The bridge was part of the
E-ZPass
E-ZPass Interagency Group (E-ZPass Group trade name and E-ZPass product brand) is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the eastern half of the United States. The group itself is composed of ...
system and its
toll plaza
A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemented to help recoup the costs of road construction and maintenan ...
included two dedicated E-ZPass lanes in each direction. On October 30, 2019, the bridge's tolling went fully
cashless; drivers paid via E-ZPass or
video tolling
Video tolling (sometimes referred to as video billing, toll by plate, pay by mail, or pay by plate) is a form of electronic toll collection that uses video or still images of a vehicle's license plate to identify a vehicle liable to pay a road to ...
.
File:KeyBridge.Baltimore.MD.jpg, Key Bridge with Baltimore in the background, viewed from Cox Creek Industrial Park, in northeast Anne Arundel County, November 2011 to the south
File:Francis Scott Key Bridge Eastern View.jpg, Key Bridge looking to the northeast with Sparrows Point and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation steel mill and shipyards of southeast Baltimore County in the distance, February 2018
File:Crossing the Key Bridge (Baltimore).webm, Driving on the inner loop (westbound) across the bridge, November 2023, thumbtime=1:53
Collapse

On March 26, 2024, at 01:28
EDT (05:28
UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
), the main spans of the bridge collapsed after the
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
-registered container ship
MV ''Dali'' lost power and collided with the southwest supporting pier of the main truss section.
The
NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inc ...
noted that the Key Bridge was built before the introduction of redundant support structures, which are widely used in modern bridges and would have prevented such a collapse.
Members of an eight-person maintenance crew working on the bridge are believed to be the only people injured or killed in the disaster. Six bodies were recovered and two people were rescued: one uninjured and the other transported to a hospital in critical condition.
A
mayday
Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications.
It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...
distress call sent by the ship's crew just before the collision led police and bridge workers to halt traffic onto the bridge, likely saving many lives.
The collapse, which blocked the Patapsco shipping channel, immediately halted almost all passenger and cargo shipping to the Port of Baltimore. Maryland Governor
Wes Moore
Westley Watende Omari Moore (born October 15, 1978) is an American politician, businessman, author, and former U.S. Army officer serving as the 63rd governor of Maryland since 2023.
Moore was born in Maryland and raised primarily in New York. ...
declared a state of emergency. Economic losses were initially estimated at $15 million per day. Insurers are expected to incur multi-billion dollar losses for the damages, business disruptions, and liability claims.
Three temporary channels were opened by April 20, allowing about 15% of pre-collapse shipping to pass. A temporary deep-draft channel was opened on April 25, allowing some larger ships to enter and leave,
then closed on April 29, enabling salvage crews to resume removing bridge wreckage.
In May, the authorities used explosives in order to remove the portions of the collapsed remnants of the bridge that lay atop the ship.
Replacement
Hours after the collapse, President
Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...
said that the federal government would pay for the entire cost of reconstructing the bridge. On May 2, 2024, Maryland Department of Transportation officials said they plan to replace the bridge by late 2028 at an estimated cost of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion.
The original bridge had cost $141 million to build, which is approximately $743 million in 2024 dollars.
In August, the Maryland Transportation Authority awarded a contract to
Kiewit Corporation
Kiewit Corporation is an American construction company based in Omaha, Nebraska founded in 1884. In 2021, it was ranked 243rd on the Fortune 500. Privately held, it is one of the largest construction and engineering organizations in North America ...
of
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
. Work on the new bridge was scheduled to start January 7, 2025, after the approval by
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
of the
December 2024 continuing resolution which included $2 billion in funding.
References
Sources
*
External links
Official omnibus website of repair and salvage operations*
ttp://www.dcroads.net/crossings/key-MD/ Steve Anderson's DCroads.net: Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695)Maryland Transportation Authority Key Bridge Rebuild Website
{{Portal bar, Transport, Maryland, Baltimore
Francis Scott Key Bridge (Baltimore)
1977 establishments in Maryland
2024 disestablishments in Maryland
Articles containing video clips
Bridges completed in 1977
Bridges in Baltimore
Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Collapsed buildings and structures in the United States
Continuous truss bridges in the United States
Baltimore truss bridges
Crossings of the Patapsco River
Dundalk, Maryland
Francis Scott Key
Hawkins Point, Baltimore
Interstate 95
Road bridges in Maryland
Steel bridges in the United States
Toll bridges in Maryland
Tolled sections of Interstate Highways
Demolished buildings and structures in Baltimore
Sparrows Point, Maryland