Baltimore port channel could fully reopen in May
Some traffic could resume within 4 weeks
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced an “ambitious” though “tentative” timeline to partially reopen the Fort McHenry Channel in Baltimore by the end of April and fully reopen it by the end of May, around two months after the Francis Scott Key Bridge plunged into the Patapsco River after being struck by a cargo ship.
Engineers expect to open a “limited access” channel, which would allow for one-way traffic into the Port of Baltimore, within four weeks, the Corps announced in a news release Thursday.
The smaller channel would stretch 280 feet wide and 35 feet deep, less than half the width of the full channel. It would be accessible to barge container service and some roll on/roll off vessels carrying cars or farm equipment, according to the Corps.
The permanent channel, 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep, will reopen with normal capacity by the end of May, according to the timeline.
Lt. Gen. Scott A. Spellmon, commanding general for the Corps, said authorities have carried out “underwater surveys and detailed structural analysis” of the bridge’s wreckage in the two weeks since the collapse.
“A fully opened federal channel remains our primary goal, and we will carry out this work with care and precision, with safety as our chief priority,” he said.
Spellmon said the timeline could change due to weather conditions and the state of the wreckage.
“We are working quickly and safely to clear the channel and restore full service at this port that is so vital to the nation,” he said. “At the same time, we continue to keep faith with the families of the missing and are working with our partners to help locate and recover their loved ones.”
Authorities have retrieved the bodies of two of the six construction workers who were declared dead after plunging into the cold waters below the bridge.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the new timeline would provide “clarity and certainty” for the city’s ongoing recovery efforts.
A timeline for the reconstruction of the bridge itself remains uncertain.
In a letter released Friday, Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, asked Congress to authorize the federal government to pay for the total cost of the bridge’s repair.
“The President has also been clear since day one about his commitment-that the Federal Government should cover any needed costs for reconstructing the bridge,” she wrote. “While we continue to assess those costs alongside our federal and state partners, we are asking the Congress to join us in demonstrating our commitment to aid in recovery efforts by authorizing a 100% federal cost share for rebuilding the bridge.”
The bridge cost $60 million to build in 1977, the equivalent of around $316 million today. Officials say it could be rebuilt in less than five years, the time it took to build it initially, depending on funding, design plans and the state of the wreckage under the water.