Construction

What You Need to Know

Whether you live, work, or travel near the bridge, we want you to know what to expect and what we’re doing to minimize disruptions.

  • Work Hours: Construction activity will predominantly occur Monday through Saturday during daylight hours.
  • Noise & Vibration Monitoring: Monitoring equipment is being used in nearby communities to provide real-time feedback to the construction team and help minimize disruption.
  • You Will See: Large equipment, construction crews, trestles (work platforms) extending from Sollers Point and Hawkins Point to the North and South Pylons, and activity on land and in the water.
  • You May Hear: Noise typical of large construction projects, including repetitive hammering sounds from pile driving.

Safety Guidelines for Waterway Users

To support safe navigation during construction, all waterway users should follow these safety guidelines:

  • Stay Informed: Check the USCG District 5 Local Notice to Mariners for real-time updates and navigation alerts.
  • Obey Safety Zones and No Entry Areas: Follow all Safety Zone-No Entry Area’s marked with lit, white hazard buoys. MDTA police boats are patrolling and enforcing restrictions.
  • Federal Navigation Channel Remains Open: Please take precautions with larger ships.
  • Slow Down Near Construction Zones: Maintain speeds of 6-knots or less to minimize wake when transiting adjacent to construction equipment and listen for important communication from project vessels via VHF FM marine radio channels 16 and/or 13. Watch for lights marking piles and trestle at night.
Download Smooth Waters Toolkit
Smooth Waters Initiative Map

Work Schedule and Activities 

A look at the planned and ongoing work advancing the Key Bridge Rebuild.

Key Bridge Rebuild Activities Timeline

Ongoing Activities

Aerial view of barge on water with cranes and bridge piles.

Permanent Foundation Piles Installation

  • The team drove the first permanent foundation pile in December 2025, marking the beginning of the main span construction.
  • The team will continue to drive foundation and pier protection piles for the north and south pylons through Spring 2027.
Aerial view of a trestle or work platform that is used in marine construction.

Temporary Trestle Construction

  • The construction of the temporary trestles began in January 2025. The team has welded and driven all the piles and is finishing installing the crane mats.
  • The north trestle is 2,200 feet and south trestle is 1,200 feet in length, totaling over 104,000 square feet of working area.
  • These work platforms or trestles will allow for quick and safe drive-up access for crews, equipment, and materials from both peninsulas to the main pylons.
View of noise monitor on a pole

Noise and Vibration Monitoring

  • Monitoring equipment was installed in nearby communities to record baseline noise and vibration levels before demolition, test pile installation, and full construction began.
  • These baseline readings helped define normal everyday conditions in the area.
  • Ongoing monitoring during construction allows the team to track changes in noise and vibration and respond as needed.

Completed Activities

View of land demolition of bridge.

Mechanical Land Demolition

  • Demolition of the existing bridges over land was completed in February 2026. Crews will remove the three bridge spans in the water on both the north and south sides later in the construction process.
  • On land, the team removed 20,000 tons of concrete decking, concrete columns, and removed 160 steel girders on both the north and south sides of the bridge.
View of test piles in the water

Test Pile Program

  • The Test Pile Program began in September 2025 and was successfully completed in February 2026 and confirmed the strength and performance of the project’s foundation design, allowing the team to progress directly into driving permanent piles.
  • The team drove six test piles at each of the main span piers to the north and south of the federal navigation channel. They installed a load frame and jacking system to simulate the forces the piles will experience once the bridge is built. A vertical and horizontal load test were performed on the piles and both tests were successful.

Completed Pre-Construction Activities

Image of wind tunnel testing

Wind Tunnel Testing

  • Engineers simulated conditions to study how the bridge responds to various wind loads.
  • The bridge’s cross section was tested based on wind and traffic patterns from the final design.
man surveying the road

Surveying and Mapping

  • Crews collected topographic data using drone flights, right-of-way boundary surveys and subsurface utility mapping to support detailed design work.
Image of the scour testing

Scour Testing

  • Specialists modeled water flow around the bridge’s foundation and support piles to assess impacts on the riverbed and ensure long-term structural stability.
field work person conducting property inspection

Property Inspections

  • Teams completed 1,121 property inspections to document baseline conditions before major construction begins.
  • Inspections covered properties within a 1-mile radius of the northernmost and southernmost pile-driving locations.
  • Photo and video documentation during inspections captured pre-construction conditions of the properties.
pile fabrication

Test Pile Fabrication

  • Crews fabricated test piles and load test frames for the pile load testing program, which supports the design of the bridge’s main span.
  • Each test pile was built piece by piece, with the finished piles measuring 8 feet wide and over 200 feet long.
bridge alignment visual

Bridge Alignment

  • Based on months of field investigations and engineering analysis, the new bridge alignment was determined to be slightly east (downriver) of the original structure.
  • The alignment remains entirely within MDTA’s existing right-of-way.
Crews conducting tests on soil.

Geotechnical Investigations

  • Engineers conducted extensive marine-based borings in the Patapsco River riverbed and land-based borings along the bridge alignment to evaluate soil conditions and support the pile and foundation design.
  • Laboratory tests classified the soils found in the riverbed and on the north and south sides of the bridge.
  • The geotechnical boring results identified the soil profile beneath the surface, helping guide the design of the bridge foundations.

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