On the day the container ship Dali left Baltimore for the first time since it knocked down the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the four-year process to rebuild the structure took another key step. Teams interested in building the next bridge submitted their proposals — due Monday at 4 p.m. — to the Maryland Transportation Authority.

The authority released a request for proposals (RFP) May 31, opening a brief, 24-day window for companies to collaborate and submit a proposal. The winning pitch is likely to be, as is typical for similar bridge projects, one from a team of several companies that specialize in different aspects of design and construction.

The transportation authority anticipates awarding a contract mid- to late summer, but said procurement regulations prohibit it from identifying until then which teams submitted proposals.

Webuild, an Italian construction and engineering company, and its U.S. subsidiary, Lane Construction, however, shared their design for a new bridge last month in a news release. It said they were “ready to rebuild” the span. They envision a taller bridge (213 vertical feet, compared with the old span’s 185 feet), as well as a navigational span of 2,300 horizontal feet (double that of the former one).

Another construction and engineering company, Kiewit, hosted a virtual outreach event in early June and shared on LinkedIn it was “assembling a team to respond to the anticipated” RFP.

Asked for additional details, a spokesperson for the company said, “Kiewit does not publicly discuss the work we potentially pursue.”

Other possible builders declined to comment, as well.

Large construction projects are often completed following successive steps: Research is followed by a design, which is followed by construction. But to expedite the opening of a new Key Bridge, which is vital to Baltimore’s vehicular transportation network, authorities will exercise a “design-build” process. That means planning and construction take place simultaneously.The winning team will immediately begin Phase 1 — which focuses on “project development” — and receive up to $73 million for those services. It will then have exclusive negotiating rights for the second, more in-depth and costlier phase, which includes “final design/engineering and construction.”

The RFP does not specify how much the bridge-building contract would be worth, but transportation authority officials have estimated the span will cost roughly $1.7 billion.

Federal officials have promised the new bridge will be paid for with federal funds. Some of that money could later be recouped from any party found responsible for the disaster, but a litigious battle over who is at fault is expected to take years.

The cargo ship Dali left Baltimore in the early hours of March 26, bound for Sri Lanka, but immediately lost power, plowing into a Key Bridge support pier and felling the structure. The collapse killed six construction workers and blocked Baltimore’s shipping channel for more than two months.

Monday marked a milestone, however, as the Dali sailed out of Baltimore for the first time since the incident. Escorted by four tugboats and two other vessels, it began a 16- to 20-hour journey to Norfolk, Virginia.

Mike Brown, of Glen Burnie, stood at Fort Armistead Park as the Dali departed, describing it as “another chapter we can put behind us” in the recovery process.

“The next chapter will be rebuilding the bridge in a way that makes it safer and not susceptible to the same kind of collapse,” he said.

That will be among the focuses for the new bridge. The RFP stated that the builder must identify one person to be the vessel collision protection design manager — with experience in protecting “bridge piers from vessel collisions.”

Experts predict the new bridge will be cable-stayed (a popular modern design), but the span’s specifications will depend upon which builder is selected. Stated goals are for the bridge to be “resilient and aesthetically pleasing,” to exceed 75 years of life, and to minimize “the number of piers in the Patapsco River.” (Fewer piers decreases the chances of ship strike.)

The bridge should also be a structure that “serves as the gateway to Baltimore City and Port of Baltimore,” according to the RFP.

The transportation authority aims to open the bridge to all four lanes of traffic “no later than October 15, 2028,” according to the RFP, although “incentives will be offered for earlier completion.”

Rebuilding the span will be a costly endeavor, but bills for the cleanup process have started to come in, too.

The federal government has spent at least $160 million as part of the response to the disaster and Maryland’s Board of Public Works will next week consider a $50 million contract with Skanska, a Swedish construction company, for removing debris from the river. That money is “eligible for federal reimbursement,” however, per an agenda item from the Maryland spending board.

Baltimore Sun reporter Jean Marbella contributed to this article.