Crews removed the first piece of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the Patapsco River on Saturday in an effort to reopen the Port of Baltimore.
The northern part of the bridge’s steel frame was sawn off to allow it to be carried off in a barge. From there, the section will be transported to the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Mill, which will soon be a distribution center for companies such Amazon. Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) gave an update during a press conference without offering a specific timeline.
“This will eventually allow us to open up a temporarily restricted channel that will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse,” Moore said. “It’s not going to take days, but once we complete this phase of the work, we can move more tugs and more barges and more boats into the area to accelerate our recovery.”
A large cargo ship lost power before it struck the bridge’s support column. It was able to send a mayday distress signal, which alerted authorities to stop traffic from entering the bridge.
Between $100 million and $200 million worth of cargo moves through the Port of Baltimore every day. As a result of the bridge collapse, 10 cargo ships were temporarily stuck without a port. Now ports in Virginia are soliciting more traffic there to avoid the wreckage, including cruise ships.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) confirmed Saturday that the Small Business Administration approved the businesses affected by the port closure to receive low-interest disaster loans up to $2 million.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
A crew of six construction workers was on the bridge when it collapsed. Divers recovered two bodies from the river, and the four others are presumed dead. The two identified were Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, from Mexico and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, from Guatemala. The other workers were from Honduras and El Salvador.
President Joe Biden has committed to funding the bridge’s reconstruction, but that could be a long road in a divided Congress during an election year. It remains to be seen how much the reconstruction could cost.
