Bredar expressed frustration about the timing of the settlements, which came just days before opening statements were set to begin Monday in what had been expected to be a roughly five-week trial. The agreements resolved all pending claims tied to the six construction workers killed when the Dali lost power and struck the bridge in the early morning hours of March 26, 2024.
With the death-related lawsuits now settled, the claims left on the docket allege economic losses sustained by businesses and local governments in the aftermath of the collapse, which severed a major transportation artery and disrupted commerce in the Baltimore region for months.
Bredar, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, had been scheduled to hear opening statements Monday. Instead, he postponed the trial indefinitely, signaling he would weigh pending legal arguments that could produce additional settlements and potentially end the litigation without a trial. None of the remaining parties sought to proceed as scheduled.
The collapse of the Key Bridge, a 1.6-mile span that carried Interstate 695 over the Patapsco River, killed six members of a road-maintenance crew and triggered the largest marine salvage operation in U.S. history. The disaster prompted both criminal charges against the ship’s operator and a wave of civil litigation by victims’ families, government entities, and affected businesses.