Baltimore officials have announced they will build two temporary alternative channels for commercially essential vessels following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last week after it was struck by the freighter Dali.
Crews have begun the complicated work of removing steel and concrete at the site of the deadly Patapsco River bridge collapse following the freighter collision, which left six construction workers dead.
Twenty-two Indian sailors remain confined to the Dali since last Tuesday’s disaster while they answer questions from investigators about the disaster.
On Sunday, diving teams inspected parts of the bridge and searched the ship, and workers on the elevators used blowtorches to cut above-water parts of the twisted steel superstructure.
The harbor master is preparing to establish the temporary channel on the northeast side of the main channel. It will have a control depth of 11 feet, a horizontal clearance of 264 feet and a vertical clearance of 96 feet, officials said. A video released Sunday showed the Coast Guard dropping buoys into the water.
Baltimore officials have announced they will build two temporary alternative channels for commercially essential vessels following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last week.
Debris is being removed from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge as efforts begin to reopen the Port of Baltimore on Sunday.
“This will mark an important first step on the path to reopening the Port of Baltimore,” Capt. David O’Connell, federal coordinator for the on-site response, said in a statement Sunday night. “By opening this alternative route, we will support the flow of marine traffic into Baltimore.”
On Monday, the Small Business Administration will open a center in Dundalk, Maryland, to help small businesses obtain loans to help with losses caused by the disruption of the bridge collapse.
The bridge fell when the crew of the freighter Dali lost power and control on March 26. They called for a mayday, which gave enough time for police to stop vehicles from going onto the bridge, but not enough time to get a crew of eight workers off the structure.
Two workers survived, two bodies were found in a submerged van and four more men are presumed dead. Weather conditions and tangled debris underwater have made it too dangerous for divers to search for their bodies.
In addition to clearing the shipping channel to reopen the port, officials are trying to determine how to rebuild the main bridge, which was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695 around southeast Baltimore and was critical to the city’s centuries of maritime culture. city.
Congress is expected to consider relief packages to help people who lose jobs or businesses due to the prolonged closure of the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more automobiles and farm equipment than any other American facility.
Eight construction workers were filling potholes on the bridge when the accident occurred. Two of them were rescued shortly after the collapse. Divers recovered the bodies of two other people and the other four are presumed dead. Jeffrey Pritzker, executive vice president of Brawner Builders, said they were working in the middle of the span when it collapsed.
Eight construction workers were filling potholes on the bridge when the accident occurred.
The workers came to the Maryland area from Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico, according to diplomats from those countries.
One worker, Maynor Yassir Suazo Sandoval, 38, came to the United States from Honduras almost two decades ago. His sister described him as an enterprising, hard-working husband and father of two children. And El Salvador’s Foreign Minister, Alexandra Hill Tinoco, published on X on Wednesday that a Salvadoran citizen, Miguel Luna, was among the missing workers.
The collapse will almost certainly create a logistical nightmare, shutting down ship traffic in the Port of Baltimore and snarling cargo and passenger traffic.
The port is a major shipping hub on the East Coast. The bridge crosses the Patapsco River, which huge cargo ships use to reach the Chesapeake Bay and then the Atlantic Ocean.
The Dali was headed from Baltimore to Colombo, Sri Lanka, and was flying under the flag of Singapore, according to data from Marine Traffic.
President Joe Biden said he expects the federal government to shoulder the entire cost of rebuilding. His administration approved $60 million in emergency federal aid to pay for debris removal and other startup costs.