They’re gonna need a bigger bridge.

That, partially, is what prompted the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s budget to more than double and its schedule to slow, state officials said Tuesday during the Maryland Transportation Authority’s monthly board meeting.

It marked the group’s first gathering since the state announced it increased the project’s cost estimate from under $2 billion to between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion and delayed its completion date from fall 2028 to the end of 2030.

Less than two weeks after the bridge was knocked down by a container ship in March 2024, the state put together what they’ve since labeled hasty projections for the rebuild. Doing so was essential, they’ve said, to unlock federal emergency funds.

Preliminary estimates were based upon assumptions tied to a smaller bridge. For example, engineers originally envisioned a 1,400-foot main span elevated about 215 feet above the Patapsco River. After computing how to meet the federal bridge code and receiving guidelines from agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard, they realized those initial dimensions were insufficient, as were the cost expectations.

Engineers first expected two huge towers, known as pylons, to stand 500 feet above the water. Instead, they’ll be over 600 feet tall.

“Those pylons increased by more than 20% in height from what we were originally assuming based on that 13-day, high-level, rudimentary estimate,” Jim Harkness, the transportation authority’s chief engineer, explained to board members Tuesday.

The most expensive aspect of the new bridge will be its cable-stayed section, the stretch of highway supported by a web of 144 cables attached to pylons. The length of that portion increased by hundreds of feet, which can have an exponential effect on pricing, experts say.

The bridge’s main span will be 1,665 feet long, making it the longest main span of a cable-stayed bridge located entirely in the U.S. (A much longer one connecting Detroit to Canada will soon be complete.)

The longer span places support piers farther from the shipping channel, which lowers the odds of a ship strike. The state and its contracted design builder, Kiewit, also decided to reinforce piers with rigid, football field-sized fenders capable of stopping a large vessel.

That choice, however, is a pivot from the original, more inexpensive “rock island” concept. Pier protection is expected to cost about one-quarter of the overall budget, according to a pie chart provided to board members, representing over $1 billion.

The board’s nine members mostly applauded state officials Tuesday, but they also inquired about the budget and elongated schedule. Member Jeffrey Rosen highlighted the pier protection cost since it is “inflating and increasing the overall budget.”

Harkness detailed that the fenders will protect not only the two main supports, but four others, and will need to be fortified since they’ll be “responsible for arresting an errant vessel.”

Among a small group of observers at Tuesday’s meeting in South Baltimore were two elected officials: Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman and Del. Bob Long, who represents eastern Baltimore County.

Pittman, a Democrat, expressed “sympathy and solidarity” for the authority following the revelation that the bridge will be pricier and take longer.

“The biggest threat to this project, that I see, is the politicization of it,” Pittman said during the public comment session.

Critics, including President Donald Trump’s secretary of transportation, Sean Duffy, have admonished Gov. Wes Moore and the state of Maryland on the rebuild.

Long, a Republican, focused on day-to-day roadway congestion. Traffic has been “horrendous,” he said, noting that his commuting constituents are now expected to go another two years without the bridge.

“Time is of the essence,” he said.