Webuild S p A : ready to rebuild the Baltimore Bridge collapsed in March

Design of a safe, innovative and green cable-stayed bridge that will contribute to the development of the port of Baltimore as a logistics hub

Webuild's experience in the field at the service of the US, where the Group is already well established

Milan, May 3, 2024- A new, safe and innovative cable-stayed bridge to redefine the entrance to the historic port of Baltimore City, a key hub for American logistics. This is the project presented pro bono by Webuild, with its US subsidiary Lane, for the reconstruction of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed last March causing the loss of many lives and severing a vital link between the city's harbour and the Atlantic Ocean. The Group offered to the relevant authorities a proposal for the design and planning of reconstruction of the bridge, drawn up as a sign of solidarity and friendship with the United States, a country where Webuild is already well established. The preliminary proposal was drafted in collaboration with architect Carlo Ratti, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and French structural engineer Michel Virlogeux.

"We at Webuild and our US subsidiary Lane are ready to make ourselves available, to quickly restore this strategic bridge for local mobility," said Webuild CEO Pietro Salini in a letter sent with the project to the US Secretary of Transportation, the Governor of Maryland, and the Director of the Maryland Port Administration. "We will take part, on May 7, in the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA)'s Virtual Industry Forum for the reconstruction of the bridge, and we are ready to help in any way we can at this stage in the spirit of pro bono service. The design concept of the bridge that we have been working on incessantly during this last month will represent a key contribution towards the design and reconstruction or new construction of the bridge".

The collapse of the Baltimore Bridge, one of the busiest in the area, had a significant impact on regional and global mobility. "We are aware of the importance of this infrastructure from a logistical and commercial point of view, with more than 1.4 million local residents and tens of thousands of commuters directly affected by the collapse of the bridge," Salini said. "We previously fielded our expertise on the occasion of the tragic collapse of the Genoa Bridge in Italy in 2018 (made at cost without profit for the group), which resulted in the death of 43 people and complete standstill of in the city and the Port, among the most important in Italy," Salini added. Webuild built the

new Genoa Bridgein about 1 year, despite the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, working around the clock, also thanks to the close collaboration with institutions and the support of the civil community.

Webuild's proposal for Baltimore includes a cable-stayed bridge that also aims to improve several functional aspects, including safety, adaptability and sustainability. The bridge will be designed to ensure maximum safety for navigation, even for larger ships. It is assumed, for example, that the navigable clearance, the space that a ship can occupy to pass under the bridge, will be 213 feet (65 metres), which is much greater than that of the collapsed bridge; but also that the bridge span will be enlarged to about 2,300 feet (700 metres), with the main pylons positioned in much shallower waterand away from the navigation channel. All this will allow the Port of Baltimore to remain an important international port for years to come. A wider carriageway is also planned, with the increase of one lane in each direction and the widening of emergency lanes, in response to the increased traffic levels on the bridge. The proposed new smart features will also enable safer traffic management and the use of predictive maintenance techniques. We would also envisage the use of more sustainable materials to preserve the ecosystem of the Patapsco River.