BALTIMORE, Maryland — Engineer teams Saturday worked through the intricate process of cutting and removing the first section of twisted metal from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Maryland, which fell into the Patapsco River Tuesday after a massive freighter collided with one of its main columns. support.
Sparks could be seen flying from a bent and crumpled section of steel Saturday afternoon, and in a video released by authorities, demolition crews can be seen using a cutting torch to section the thick beams. The joint incident command said in a statement that the work was being carried out on the upper part of the north side of the collapsed structure.
Crews were carefully measuring and cutting the steel from the collapsed bridge and then attaching straps so it can be lifted onto a barge and floated away, US Coast Guard Rear Adm. Shannon Gilreath said Saturday.
Seven floating cranes — including a huge one capable of lifting 1,000 tons — 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard boats were in the water southeast of Baltimore.
Each move affects what happens next and, ultimately, how long it will take to clear all the debris and reopen the shipping channel and the blocked Baltimore port, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said.
“I cannot stress enough how important today and the first displacement of this bridge and the remains are. “It is going to be an extraordinarily complicated process,” Moore stated.
Undeterred by the morning chill, longtime Baltimore resident Randy Lichtenberg and others took photos with their phones or simply silently gazed at the broken pieces of the bridge, which, including its steel beams, weigh up to 4,000 tons.
“I wouldn’t want to be in that water. It must be cold. It’s hard work,” Lichtenberg said from a spot on the river called Sparrows Point.
The shock of waking up Tuesday morning to video of what he called an iconic part of the Baltimore skyline falling into the water has given way to sadness.
“It never sinks in that quickly. “It’s amazing,” Lichtenberg said.
Whats Next
One of the teams’ first goals in the water is to open a smaller auxiliary channel so tugboats and other small barges can navigate freely. They are also seeking to stabilize the place so that divers can continue searching for the four missing workers, whom authorities consider dead.
Two workers were rescued from the water hours after the bridge collapsed early Tuesday, and the bodies of two other workers were recovered from inside a truck that fell and became submerged in the river. They had been filling potholes in the bridge, and although police were able to stop vehicular traffic after the freighter issued a mayday call, they were unable to notify the construction team, made up of people from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
The crew of the freighter Dalí, managed by the Synergy Marine Group, remained on board with the remains of the bridge around them, and were safe and giving interviews. It keeps the ship running, as it will have to be removed from the canal once more debris is removed.
The cargo ship is owned by Grace Ocean Private Ltd. and was chartered by Maersk, a large Danish shipping company.
The collision and collapse appear to be due to an accident that occurred after the ship became adrift. Federal and state investigators are trying to determine the causes.
Allaying concerns about possible pollution caused by the crash, Adam Ortiz, the Environmental Protection Agency’s central Atlantic regional administrator, said there were no indications in the water of active spills from the ship of materials not hazardous to human health.
Reconstruction
Authorities are also trying to figure out how to manage the economic impact of closing a port and disrupting an important road link. The bridge was completed in 1977 and linked Interstate 695 to southeast Baltimore.
Maryland transportation officials plan to rebuild the bridge and promise to study innovative designs or construction materials to shorten a project that could take years.
President Joe Biden’s administration has approved $60 million in immediate aid and has promised that the federal government will pay the full cost of rebuilding.
Ship traffic at the Port of Baltimore remains suspended, but the Maryland Ports Administration said trucks were still being processed at marine terminals.
The loss of a road used by 30,000 vehicles daily and the impact of the port not only harms thousands of port workers and travelers, but also American consumers, who will likely feel the impact of shipping delays. The port handles more cars and more farm equipment than any other facility in the United States.
Source: AP
