A statement from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has confirmed that plans to reopen the federal navigation channel at the Port of Baltimore have been pushed back from the end of May to the second week of June.
This follows an incident on 26 March 2024, in which a container ship crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge, leading to the bridge’s collapse.
The original ‘tentative timeline’ for the port’s reopening set out by USACE in April 2024 outlined plans to open a limited-access channel by the end of April, followed by the reopening of the federal navigation channel by the end of May.
A limited-access channel has been opened and, on 24 May, USACE announced that it had been expanded, ‘allowing for the transit of all deep-draft commercial vessels calling on the Port of Baltimore’.
However, USACE noted that complications in clearing the wreckage from the riverbed have meant that a full reopening of the 700ft-wide and 50ft-deep federal navigation channel will likely not be possible until 8-10 June 2024.
Colonel Estee Pinchasin, Baltimore District commander at USACE, explained: “We are not taking our foot off the gas. We are pushing forward as quickly and safely as possible to reach 700ft and ensuring we remove all wreckage to prevent any impact to future navigation.
“Only about one-third of this truss is visible above the water as it stretches down to the riverbed and sits buried in the mud line. Based on the latest dive surveys and engineer analyses conducted after precision cutting and refloating the Dali [container ship], the work to restore the Federal Channel is projected to conclude between June 8-10.
“The adjusted timing accounts for the complexity of the cutting and rigging required to lift portions of the large span. It also accounts for safety measures and possible inclement weather potentially impacting ongoing salvage operations.
“This effort is more complex than initially estimated. Salvage crews must dig out the bottom cord of this truss to access the areas needing to be cut.”
On 28 May, US president Joe Biden met with Maryland governor Wes Moore, chief of engineers and commanding general of the Army Corps of Engineers Lieutenant General Scott Spellmon and deputy commandant for operations of the United States Coast Guard Vice Admiral Pete Gautier for an operational update on the federal and state response to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
According to a statement from the White House, Biden ‘underscored his Administration’s commitment to standing with Baltimore every step of the way in this recovery’ at the meeting, in which the group ‘discussed progress toward fully reopening the federal shipping channel’.
Additionally, it’s reported that the meeting ‘also focused on continued support for impacted workers, small business owners and families of the victims of the bridge collapse’.
The meeting is one of a series of regular meetings convened by the White House to ‘ensure close coordination between the federal government and the state of Maryland in responding to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse, supporting affected communities and ongoing planning to rebuild the bridge’.
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