Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday that federal officials are still working to come up with a cost estimate to rebuild the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
“We don’t have dollar estimates yet, but we have provisions that allow us to begin releasing funding even while that is being determined,” Mr. Buttigieg told reporters at the daily White House press briefing.
President Biden said Tuesday that the federal government will pay “the entire cost” to rebuild the bridge after it was struck by a container ship, causing it to fall into the Patapsco River.
He also ordered his team to move quickly to get funding available to reopen the bridge as quickly as possible.
Mr. Buttigieg said the Department of Transportation will immediately process an emergency funding request that has come in from state officials in Maryland. He said it is also too soon to offer a time frame on when the bridge could be rebuilt.
It took five years to build it in the 1970s.
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The secretary warned that rebuilding the bridge would be expensive and complicated.
“We are committed to delivering every federal resource needed, every federal resource needed to help Maryland get back to normal, and we’re going to work with them every step of the way to rebuild this bridge. It is not going to be simple,” he said. “Rebuilding will not be quick or easy or cheap, but we will get it done.”
Mr. Buttigieg said it was likely that the administration would turn to Congress to seek funding, saying that “shouldn’t be a barrier” for immediate funding relief.
He said Mr. Biden‘s infrastructure law did authorize funding into the emergency relief account, but that had about $950 million available in it, but a long line of projects ahead of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
He also said that it was too soon to know when the funding request would be sent to Congress.
Any private company found liable for the collapse of the Francis Scott Bridge would be held accountable, Mr. Buttigieg said. But he declined to say what penalties could be imposed. Some lawmakers have called for fining the cargo ship’s owner, Singapore-based Grace Ocean Private Ltd, and using the funds to help rebuild the bridge.
SEE ALSO: Key Bridge collapse closes Baltimore’s busy economic artery to shipping traffic
“I think 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,” Mr. Buttigieg said.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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