Maryland Opens Bidding on $50M-$100M Key Bridge Demolition Package
The Maryland Transportation Authority opened bidding this week on the second of four contracts to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, with the demolition and marine work package estimated at $50 million to $100 million, Construction Dive reports in its weekly Punch List roundup.
Market Impact
The Demolition and Miscellaneous Marine Work contract will go through a competitive, sealed bidding process, with bids due this fall and work expected to start late this year, according to the MDTA. The scope covers removal and salvage of steel girder spans over the Patapsco River, demolition of marine and land piers, sub-aqueous demolition of marine foundations, and clean-out of 96-inch steel pipe piles. The agency released a request for qualifications in July for construction of the bridge’s main span and marine approaches, and it expects to announce the south land approach contract in late 2026 and the north land approach contract in early 2027.
Two other project wins highlight how active the bidding landscape is across sectors right now. Dornan Engineering, a Turner Construction subsidiary based in Ireland, broke ground July 20 on a 48-million-euro ($56 million) data center project where it serves as general contractor handling civil, structural, architectural, mechanical and electrical work. The team began structural steel installation on July 29. Separately, Zachry Construction won the SAT Terminal C Curbside Roadway Improvements project at San Antonio International Airport, working as a subcontractor to construction manager at-risk Hensel Phelps on the $1.7 billion Terminal C project. Zachry’s scope includes over 3,300 cubic yards of concrete, more than 800,000 pounds of reinforcing steel, and roughly 6,300 linear feet of precast bridge beams.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Marine demolition, heavy civil, and steel salvage contractors should prepare bids now: the MDTA’s Key Bridge demolition package ($50M-$100M) closes this fall, with work starting late 2026, covering pier demolition, sub-aqueous foundation removal, and pipe pile clean-out.
- Firms tracking the full Key Bridge rebuild should watch for the south land approach contract announcement in late 2026 and the north land approach award in early 2027, both stemming from the July RFQ for the main span and marine approaches.
- Concrete, rebar, and precast supply subcontractors have a live model in Zachry’s San Antonio airport scope: over 3,300 cubic yards of concrete, 800,000-plus pounds of reinforcing steel, and 6,300 linear feet of precast bridge beams, phased under Hensel Phelps’s $1.7 billion Terminal C program.
- Mechanical, electrical, and structural steel subcontractors eyeing international or multidiscipline GC work can note Dornan Engineering’s approach on its $56 million Irish data center job, where one firm carried civil, structural, architectural, mechanical, and electrical scope under a single GC contract.
