Maryland could be facing billions of dollars in new lawsuits related to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in March 2024. Six construction workers were killed after the cargo ship Dali collided with the bridge.

According to The Washington Post , more than 20 entities have filed notice to sue the state.

Those announcing their intent to sue include two survivors and families of the six people who died, according to The Post, which obtained their letters sent to the state treasurer through a public records request.

They also include people who said their homes were damaged in the collapse and businesses impacted by the closure of the Port of Baltimore.

The Post reports many of them cited comments by the NTSB chair saying Maryland failed to analyze the risk of a bridge collapse before the tragedy.

"So, yes, MDTA would've known the risk and could've taken action to safeguard the Key Bridge," NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said in a March news conference. "Had they done that, the collapse could have been prevented."

Lawsuit timetable

Those planning to sue civilly over the Key Bridge tragedy have up to three years from the incident to file their lawsuits.

Some are joining the state in blaming the owner and operator of the Dali, and are waiting to formally sue until James K. Bredar, a Baltimore-based federal judge, decides whether the damages can be capped at the value of the ship and its cargo .

Depositions of crew members are currently underway.

Several are scheduled to take place in London in June, according to court documents reviewed by WJZ Investigates.

The state is pushing to make them public , but Dali's owner reportedly wants the crew's answers shielded from public view, citing an ongoing criminal investigation by the FBI.

Lawyer Billy Murphy previously told WJZ those depositions are crucial.

"This, of course, may be the most expensive maritime case in the history of the world," Murphy said last June . "We were concerned that the men would be spirited away, never to be seen again. The promise that was made was that these people would be produced when we ask them to be produced."

A status report filed last month by Maryland's attorney general revealed there are almost 700,000 pages of documents that have already been turned over as part of this massive case.

Judge Bredar could rule on the issue of whether damages should be capped by the end of this year.

The federal lawsuit is expected to head to trial next year.

Vulnerable bridges

The NTSB also found that the state failed to review the collision risk at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

A Johns Hopkins University team studying the risks found both bridges were vulnerable, and the Key Bridge would have been among the top ten most at-risk bridges in the country .

"We have for a long time underestimated the risk to existing bridges around the United States, and in fact, what we saw with the Key Bridge was not an aberration. It was consistent with historical precedent," Michael Shields, an associate professor of civil systems and engineering at Johns Hopkins University, told WJZ after the study's release. "Not only do you see larger ships—much, much larger ships—but you also see many more of them, which changes the risk profile considerably."

The state will spend $160 million on protection measures at the Bay Bridge .

They are considering pier fenders and artificial islands to protect the supports, and slowing down vessels as they move beneath it.

"The probability that a ship will collide with the bridge is a real possibility, and it's something that is not just possible but potentially likely in our lifetime," Shields said.

When asked about it last March, NTSB chair Homendy said, "We don't want this to occur. Certainly, the same type of traffic goes under the Bay Bridge, but at higher speeds, and so what we are trying to do is prevent something in the future."

MDTA expected more than 340,000 vehicles to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge this Memorial Day weekend alone, between Friday and Monday.

WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren came to WJZ in the spring of 2004. Solid reporting credentials and a reputation for breaking important news stories have characterized Mike's work. Mike holds a B.S. degree in journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and grew up partly in both Chicago and Louisiana.