The Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse: Exactly What Went Down in Baltimore

It happened in the middle of the night. On March 26, 2024, at approximately 1:28 a.m., the city of Baltimore changed forever. If you’ve been asking when did the key bridge collapse, that is the precise moment the steel hit the water. It wasn't a slow crumble. It was a violent, structural failure triggered by a massive cargo ship losing power at the worst possible time.

The Dali, a 984-foot container ship, struck one of the bridge's main support pillars. Seconds later, the Francis Scott Key Bridge—a staple of the I-695 Outer Harbor Crossing—folded into the Patapsco River like it was made of toothpicks.

Most people don't realize how fast it all went south. From the first "mayday" call to the total collapse, we’re talking minutes. Dispatchers managed to stop traffic, which honestly saved dozens of lives, but eight construction workers were still on the span when it went down.

The Timeline of the Key Bridge Collapse

The ship left the Port of Baltimore around 12:44 a.m. Everything seemed fine. Routine. But by 1:24 a.m., the Dali suffered a total blackout. All the lights went out. The crew lost steerage. Imagine being on a ship the size of an Eiffel Tower and suddenly having no control while moving toward a concrete pier. Terrifying.

They got the power back on briefly, but it failed again. By 1:27 a.m., the pilots realized they were going to hit. They called in a mayday. That call is the only reason we aren't talking about hundreds of deaths. Police officers on both sides of the bridge scrambled to block the entrances. "Hold all traffic on the Key Bridge," one officer radioed. "There’s a ship approaching that has just lost their steering."

Impact happened at 1:28 a.m. The bridge didn't just break where it was hit; because it was a continuous truss design, the entire 1.6-mile structure became unstable and fell.

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Why the Structure Couldn't Stand the Hit

People ask why a bridge that big just gave up. Basically, the Francis Scott Key Bridge was "fracture critical." That’s engineer-speak for "if one main part breaks, the whole thing goes." It was built in the 1970s. Back then, we weren't really thinking about 100,000-ton ships slamming into support columns.

The Dali was moving at about 8 knots. That sounds slow, but when you multiply that by the mass of thousands of shipping containers, the force is astronomical. The bridge had "dolphins"—those concrete buffers in the water—but they were too small and positioned in a way that didn't stop a ship of that scale.

Modern bridges are built with massive "islands" of rock or huge concrete fenders to deflect ships. The Key Bridge? It was a sitting duck.

The Human Cost and the Workers

We have to talk about the six men who died. They were part of a construction crew from Brawner Builders, doing pothole repairs on the bridge deck. They weren't even supposed to be in danger from the water. They were just doing their jobs while the city slept.

Miguel Luna. Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval. These were fathers and husbands. Divers spent weeks in the cold, murky debris of the Patapsco River to recover their bodies. It was a grueling, dangerous operation because of the "tangled mess" of jagged steel and concrete underwater.

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Economic Ripples After the Tragedy

The Port of Baltimore is a massive deal for the U.S. economy. It’s the top port in the country for "roll-on/roll-off" cargo—think cars, trucks, and farm equipment. When the bridge fell, it essentially corked the bottle. Nothing could get in or out.

• Over 15,000 jobs depend directly on port operations.
• The supply chain for companies like Amazon and FedEx got hammered.
• Commuters who used the I-695 had to pivot to the tunnels, causing massive gridlock.

The federal government had to step in with hundreds of millions in emergency funding. Major General William H. "Butch" Graham of the Army Corps of Engineers led the effort to clear the channel. They used the "Chesapeake 1000," one of the largest cranes on the East Coast, to lift pieces of the bridge that weighed thousands of tons.

Clearing the Debris and Reopening the Port

It wasn't just about moving some metal. The wreckage was pinned to the bottom of the river by the weight of the Dali. Salvage crews had to use precision explosives to break apart the bridge sections resting on the ship’s bow.

By June 2024, the permanent deep-draft channel was finally reopened. It was a monumental feat of engineering. They moved 50,000 tons of debris in just a few months. But even with the ships moving again, the bridge-sized hole in the skyline remains.

Looking Toward the Future: The New Bridge

Maryland officials are already planning the replacement. It’s going to be expensive—estimates sit between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.

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The new design will likely be a cable-stayed bridge. Why? Because you can have much wider spans between the supports. This moves the "legs" of the bridge further away from the shipping channel, making another strike much less likely. Also, expect massive, state-of-the-art pier protection. We aren't making the same mistake twice.

What We Learned About Infrastructure

This disaster was a wake-up call. Across the U.S., there are hundreds of bridges with similar "fracture critical" designs. Experts like those at the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are looking at how to reinforce these older structures before another Dali-level event happens.

Jennifer Homendy, the chair of the Council, has been vocal about the need for better protection. It's not just about Baltimore; it's about every major port from Savannah to Long Beach.

Summary of the Event

If you're trying to keep the facts straight, here's the breakdown of the when did the key bridge collapse timeline:

1. Date: March 26, 2024.
2. Time of Impact: 1:28 a.m. EDT.
3. Cause: Power failure on the Dali cargo ship leading to a collision with a support pier.
4. Lives Lost: 6 construction workers.
5. Status: The channel is open, but a new bridge isn't expected until 2028.

What You Should Do Now

If you live in the Mid-Atlantic or rely on the I-695 corridor, stay updated on the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) announcements. The traffic patterns around Baltimore will remain disrupted for years until the new span is completed.

Keep an eye on the NTSB's final reports. They usually take 12 to 24 months to finalize. These documents will dictate how international shipping laws might change regarding tugboat requirements in harbors—something that could have potentially prevented this entire mess.

Check the Baltimore Port's official site for logistics updates if you're in the shipping or automotive business. The recovery is ongoing, and while the "emergency" phase is over, the rebuilding phase is just getting started.