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The “expert” estimates of “hundreds of millions” in this NYT piece, interestingly, is far less than the billions estimated now by industry experts; Bloomberg leans on the expertise of Yonah Freemark of the Urban Institute, who puts the approximate price tag of the project at “several billion dollars” (at least), and experts in the insurance industry concur, via Insurance Journal:

Insurance Industry Readies for Historic Losses From Baltimore Bridge Tragedy
It’s very early in the recovery process and already the numbers are large.
Insured losses for the tragic collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore could be as much as $2 billion to $4 billion, according to Morningstar.
S&P Global Ratings estimates $3 billion, which would still make this tragedy the largest marine insurance loss ever recorded.
Barclay’s analysts believe damage claims for the bridge alone could reach $1.2 billion, while claims for wrongful deaths and business interruptions could run $350 million to $700 million, according to Bloomberg.
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‘I do see this claim as having a high likelihood of being one of the largest marine claims on record – rivaling Costa Concordia in 2012 or Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 — almost 35 years ago to the day,” John A. Miklus, president, American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU), told Insurance Journal.
‘While the incident still has to be investigated, we believe it has potential to become a significant insurance claim, particularly in the marine market,’ wrote a Barclay’s analyst cited by Bloomberg.