Rebuilding collapsed Baltimore bridge 'will not be quick or easy or cheap,' says top official

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Rebuilding Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge after a massive cargo ship slammed into it earlier this week, will be a mammoth undertaking, a top Biden administration official said Wednesday.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said it is "too soon to be certain" how long the reconstruction will take, stressing the "rebuilding will not be quick or easy or cheap. But we will get it done."

He pointed to the bridge's original five-year construction as indicative of the enormity of the task that federal, state and local officials now face, but said, "That does not necessarily mean it will take five years to replace."

"That tells you what went into that original structure going up. Again, we need to get a sense of the conditions of the parts that look okay to the naked eye, but we just don't know yet, especially in terms of their foundational infrastructure," Buttigieg told reporters at the White House.

He said it is too soon to provide an estimate about the cost of rebuilding, but said, "Any private party that is found responsible and liable will be held accountable."

"Our emphasis, and the president's goal, is to make sure that that process is not something we have to wait for in order to support Maryland with the funds that they need," he said. "Anybody who was responsible, will need to be accountable."

Video of the crash on social media appears to show the ship partially losing power at least twice as a plume of thick black smoke poured out of the container vessel. The ship then rammed into one of the bridge's support pillars, causing it to collapse about a second later. ​​​​​​​

Authorities have said the ship was able to send out a mayday call, allowing law enforcement to halt traffic on the bridge and likely save the lives of those who would have otherwise been transiting across it.

The Key Bridge was one of three main arteries used to transit the Baltimore Harbor, with roughly 35,000 people using it daily for commutes. It spanned the entryway to the harbor where the vital Port of Baltimore is located. All commercial ship traffic has been halted to allow for search efforts to continue.