Channel open at fallen bridge site

Path for vessels trying to clear collapse debris

BALTIMORE — The U.S. Coast Guard has opened a temporary, alternate channel for vessels involved in the clearing of debris at the site of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, part of a phased approach to opening the main channel leading to the vital port, officials said Monday.

Crews are undertaking the complicated work of removing steel and concrete at the site of the bridge’s deadly collapse into the Patapsco River after a container ship lost power and crashed into a supporting column. On Sunday, dive teams surveyed parts of the bridge and checked the ship, and workers in lifts used torches to cut above-water parts of the twisted steel superstructure.

Officials said the temporary channel is open primarily to vessels that are helping with the cleanup effort. Some barges and tugs that have been stuck in the Port of Baltimore since the collapse are also scheduled to pass through the channel on their way out of the harbor.

Authorities believe four workers plunged to their deaths in the collapse.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a Monday news conference that his top priority is recovering the four bodies, followed by reopening shipping channels to the port. He said he understands the urgency but that the risks are significant. He said crews have described the mangled steel of the fallen bridge as “chaotic wreckage.”

“We have to move fast, but we cannot be careless,” he said.

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said divers examining the steel girders beneath the surface found them tangled and intertwined, making it difficult to figure out how to cut and lift them out of the water.

“What we’re finding is it is more complicated than we hoped for initially,” Gilreath said.

Mike Pesoli The Associated Press The fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, where divers are assisting crews with the complicated and meticulous operation of removing heavy steel and concrete.