5 months ago
21
NEW DELHI: Baltimore's main shipping channel has reopened to its original depth and width following the March 26 collapse of the
Francis Scott Key Bridge
. The reopening follows an extensive
cleanup effort
, during which crews removed an estimated 50,000 tons of steel and concrete from the Patapsco River.
The US Army Corps of Engineers certified the riverbed as safe for transit on Monday, confirming that the Fort McHenry Federal Channel has been restored to its original dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep.
This allows for two-way traffic and removes the additional safety requirements that had been in place due to the temporarily reduced channel width.
The channel had been obstructed by the wreckage of the bridge, which collapsed after a container ship, the
Dali
, lost power and crashed into one of bridge's supporting columns. The incident resulted in the deaths of six members of a roadwork crew, all of whom were Latino immigrants working an overnight shift to fill potholes on the bridge.
The operation involved more than 1,500 individual responders and 500 specialists from around the world, utilizing a fleet of boats. The effort included 56 federal, state, and local agencies. Surveying and removal of steel at and below the 50-foot mud-line will continue to ensure future dredging operations are not impacted, with wreckage transported to Sparrows Point for further processing.
In April, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into the collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board reported that the Dali had lost electrical power several times before the crash, including experiencing a blackout during in-port maintenance and shortly before the collision. Maryland estimates it will cost $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion to rebuild the bridge, with completion anticipated by fall 2028.
(With agency inputs)
