The replacement Francis Scott Key Bridge, which has an owner, a builder, and a lobbyist, now has an engineering consultant.

A team of firms, dubbed Bridging Maryland Partnership, was selected by the bridge owner, the Maryland Transportation Authority, to represent the state during the rebuilding process, “ensuring the accelerated design and construction process remains on track,” according to an authority spokesperson.

The consultant is made up of three engineering companies: WSP USA Inc., based out of New York; Johnson, Mirmiran & Thompson, headquartered in Hunt Valley; and RK&K, based in Baltimore. The group was selected over two other joint proposals.

While the bridge itself — expected to be completed by October 2028 and cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion — will be constructed by Kiewit Infrastructure Co., a mammoth construction and engineering company, the consultant will act as Kiewit’s manager “by auditing their processes, reviewing submittals and confirming the design criteria is met,” according to the authority. The $75 million contract will be funded with state toll revenue, which will later be reimbursed by the federal government.

The contract was formally approved by the Board of Public Works, composed of Gov. Wes Moore, Treasurer Dereck Davis and Comptroller Brooke Lierman, all Democrats, during a regular meeting Wednesday morning in Annapolis on the first day of this year’s General Assembly session. Moore called the Key Bridge collapse on March 26 “one of the darkest days” in Maryland’s history, and promised the bridge would be built on time and on budget.

Bridging Maryland Partnership will provide risk analyses, monitor cost and schedules, consult with environmental regulators and oversee diversity goals related to disadvantaged business enterprises, according to the authority.

“Bridging Maryland Partnership is responsible for ensuring that this bridge is built safely, that it’s built sustainably, and smoothly and, importantly, as swiftly as possible,” Moore said Wednesday.

This week marks a milestone in the bridge rebuilding process. Preconstruction services, such as surveying the riverbed and collecting soil samples, was slated to begin Tuesday, but the recent snowstorm delayed efforts. Instead, surveying of the construction site will begin in the coming days with boats using sonar to survey under the water.

“You’ll see some boats, small barges and small cranes, and various activities such as drilling, collecting soil samples, mapping subsurface waterways,” the authority’s executive director, Bruce Gartner, said during the Board of Public Works meeting.

Crews are then expected to construct trestles (temporary structures to aid in the rebuild). The remaining portions of the old bridge will be demolished this spring.

Banner reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this story.