Massive effort to clear wreckage begins
Workers began clearing wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge yesterday, with crews cutting massive steel trusses and hoisting them onto barges, part of what will be a long, complicated and dangerous effort to clear the vital shipping channel serving the Port of Baltimore.
Officials said they are using a 160-ton crane to hoist the girders. They cautioned of unforeseen complications, but expressed hope it would eventually allow them to open a channel and enable some vessels to get around the wreckage and the stranded 985-foot cargo ship, the Dali.
“It is the first of many, many steps moving forward, but it is a huge milestone,” Paul J. Wiedefeld, the Maryland transportation secretary, told reporters at a news conference near the northern span of what is left of the bridge.
Authorities said hundreds of people are working around-the-clock at the site in the Patapsco River just outside of Baltimore, where the Dali apparently lost power and struck the bridge early on Tuesday, causing it to collapse, plunging workers repairing potholes and masonry into the frigid water.
Two workers who fell were rescued from the water and survived. On Wednesday,the bodies of two men were recovered; four remain unaccounted for and authorities have said they are presumed to have died.
The two men confirmed dead are Alejandro
Hernandez Fuentes, 35, from Mexico, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, from Guatemala. Among those presumed deceased are Miguel Luna from El Salvador and Maynor Suazo Sandoval, from Honduras, who was about to turn 39, their families said. The identities of two others have not been made public.
Earlier this week, federal officials announced the first relief funds totalling US$60 million (NZ$100m) had been approved. Yesterday, Moore said the US Small Business Administration had approved a disaster declaration for the area. That will allow small businesses to apply for up to US$2m in low interest loans.
Moore said that tens of thousands of people have jobs that in some way depend on the Port of Baltimore, the top port in the nation for automobile shipments. In 2023, the port handled 52.3 million tons of foreign cargo worth nearly US$81 billion, and officials yesterday warned of the ripple effects on the nation’s supply line.
“This is not just about Maryland,” Moore said. “I’m talking about the farmer in Kentucky. I’m talking about the autoworker in Ohio. I’m talking about the restaurant owner in Tennessee.”
Lessening the economic impact depends on how quickly the debris from the Key Bridge can be cleared and the shipping channel reopened. Moore and others speaking at the news conference declined to set a timeline.
The governor said the “hull of the Dali is damaged but intact.” Moore also said that cutting up the steel beams and moving them could cause other debris to shift in unexpected ways, complicating the effort. Officials said crews yesterday started making their first cuts on steel that made up the top portion of the north side of the bridge.
Rear Admiral Shannon N. Gilreath with the US Coast Guard said the floating Chesapeake 1000 crane, which can lift 1000 tons, is not being used in this initial phase. He said it is being reserved to remove the large section of bridge draped atop the Dali, where the crew remains on board.
Authorities also said they are working closely with Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) to “reduce pressure” on an underwater pipeline that runs underneath the bridge and spans the width of the channel. Washington Post