An alternate channel is being prepared for essential vessels at Baltimore bridge collapse site
BALTIMORE– The U.S. Coast Guard is preparing a temporary alternate channel for commercially essential vessels near the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, part of a phased approach to open the main channel to the vital port, officials said.
Crews have begun the complicated work of removing steel and concrete from the site where the bridge fatally collapsed into the Patapsco River last week after colliding with a cargo ship. On Sunday, diving teams inspected parts of the bridge and checked the ship, and workers in elevators used torches to cut parts of the twisted steel superstructure above water.
The port captain is preparing to construct the temporary canal on the northeast side of the main canal. It will have a control depth of 11 feet (more than 3 meters), a horizontal clearance of 264 feet (80 meters) and a vertical clearance of 96 feet (29 meters), officials said. A video released on Sunday shows the coast guard dropping buoys into the water.
“This will mark an important first step toward reopening the Port of Baltimore,” Capt. David O’Connell, the federal on-site coordinator of the response, said in a statement Sunday evening. “By opening this alternate route, we will support the flow of maritime traffic into Baltimore.”
On Monday, the Small Business Administration will open a center in Dundalk, Maryland, to help small businesses get loans to help them with losses caused by the disruption of the bridge collapse.
The bridge fell when the crew of the cargo ship Dali lost power and control on March 26. They called a mayday, which gave police just enough time to keep vehicles from entering the bridge, but not enough time to get a crew of eight workers outside the structure.
Two workers survived, two bodies were found in a submerged pickup truck and four more men are believed dead. Weather conditions and tangled underwater debris have made it too dangerous for divers to search for their bodies.
The Dali is operated by Synergy Marine Group and owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. Danish shipping giant Maersk chartered the Dali, which was on its way out of port when the power went out and struck one of the bridge’s support columns.
In addition to clearing the shipping channel to reopen the port, officials are trying to determine how to rebuild the major bridge, which was completed in 1977 and carried Interstate 695 around southeast Baltimore and was central to the city’s centuries-long maritime culture .
Congress is expected to consider relief packages to help people who lose their jobs or businesses due to the prolonged closure of the Port of Baltimore. The port handles more cars and farm equipment than any other U.S. facility.
___
Associated Press journalists Mike Pesoli in Baltimore contributed to this report; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; and Sarah Brumfield in Washington.