Today, the Webuild group advanced a proposal designed in collaboration with architect and MIT professor Carlo Ratti and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux for a new bridge in Baltimore that would replace the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The design, which was released ahead of next week’s preliminary reconstruction forum called by the Maryland Transportation Authority, calls for a cable suspension span totaling 2,300 feet with a 213-foot clearance and offering wider lanes and increased vessel navigation safety, structural maintenance monitoring technology, smart traffic management, and enhanced connection to the Harbor area. 

Webuild had already famously contributed to the rapid reconstruction of Renzo Piano’s Morandi bridge replacement in Genoa, Italy, after the deadly 2018 collapse that killed 43 people. The company is also expecting to begin constructing what will become the world's longest suspension bridge over the Strait of Messina by the end of the year.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge had been a vital link along the Northeast corridor and saw approximately 34,000 motor vehicles a day before an errant cargo ship disabled it on March 26th, destroying a pylon support and killing six construction workers. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now managing an on-site recovery effort, though Transportation Secretary Pete Butiegeg told reporters last month there is no known timeframe for the project’s technically complex resolution.

"Opting for a cable-stayed solution enables the piles to be positioned at a safe distance, well away from the navigation channel used by large vessels and hence preventing the risk of a tragedy such as the one of March 26 happening again. This approach also provides a light-weight solution to reconnect two sides of Baltimore, both socially and economically — what American infrastructure should be striving to do in the 21st century," Ratti offers in a press statement.

CNN reported the Maryland Transportation Authority will release an official RFP for rebuilding by the end of the month.