Webuild, Salini to the Baltimore Sun: 'new Baltimore Bridge, symbol of safety and rebirth'

Rome, July 12, 2024 - The new Baltimore Bridge, "besides being safer, must also stand as a symbol of the city's rebirth". This is how Webuild CEO Pietro Salini illustrated, in an interview with the daily newspaper Baltimore Sun, his preliminary proposal for the new bridge, which was sent to the Marlyand government immediately after the accident that happened on March 26 this year, when the Francis Scott Key Bridge was destroyed by a merchant ship, causing 6 deaths.

The pro-bonoconcept design sent by Webuild, and its US subsidiary Lane Construction, foresees an elegant cable-stayed structure. What happened, highlighted Salini, referencing the similar situation that occurred with the collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, which was rebuilt by Webuild in just 15 months, "is much more than an infrastructure collapsing. It is in fact something that scars people, citizens, profoundly".

Salini did not detail the ongoing procedure with which the Maryland government will select by the end of Summer the company that will design and build the new bridge, but just pointed out that a cable-stayed bridge is the optimal solution: Cable-stayed bridges are in fact more convenient compared to other options. And their pylons can be set at a greater distance from one another". This clearly means reducing risks connected to a potentially 'rebel' ship.

A solution that indirectly was confirmed just a few days ago or so, during a hearing at the US Senate, where Maryland Transport Secretary Paul Wiedefeld discussed the potential of building piers with a greater distance from the navigation canal, and in waters deep enough to allow the entrance of the New Panamax ships arriving from the New Panama Canal, which was completed in 2016 by Webuild.

Salini in the Baltimore Suninterview highlighted the history of his company: a company that in over a century has already built 630 miles of bridges and viaducts. He also recalled that Webuild was designated to design and build the Bridge over the Strait of Messina (Italy) and that, if the latter is built it would be "the world's longest suspended bridge". The new Baltimore Bridge, as estimated by the local government, is a project worth 1.7-1.9 billion dollars that should be completed by October 15, 2028.

Salini answering the Baltimore Sun stated that Webuild could respect this deadline, and potentially even allow "substantial time saving". What is important, concluded Webuild's CEO, is "to build an infrastructure that can bring the sensation of being safe again. And that can exalt that feeling of being proud citizens of a city that had the capacity to step out from such an event by offering something that is both useful and aesthetically gratifying for the eyes".