Key Bridge collapse: Third shipping channel opens near bridge site

Port officials opened a third temporary shipping channel on the northeast side of the fallen Francis Scott Key Bridge on Friday.

The final of three alternative paths for boats around the wreckage of the bridge has a depth of about 20 feet and will allow “limited access for commercially essential vessels,” according to a Key Bridge Unified Command news release. The newest channel has a 300-foot horizontal clearance and a 135-foot vertical clearance.

With the third channel open, officials estimate the temporary routes will allow about “15 percent of pre-collapse commercial activity,” U.S. Coast Guard Capt. David O’Connell said in the release. Unified Command opened the first temporary channel, measuring about 11 feet deep, on April 1.

Gov. Wes Moore said Friday that crews working on the collapsed bridge had removed about 1,300 tons of steel from the Patapsco River and 120 containers from the Dali, the cargo ship that struck the bridge’s support column on March 26.

Even as Moore and other officials were giving updates on recovery efforts, a large piece of the bridge was being lifted from the waterway, said Rear Admiral Will E. Watson of the Key Bridge Response Unified Command.

“I believe we are rigging it up right now,” Watson said. “This is great news as it keeps us on track to open a limited access channel by the end of the month.”

Floating the Dali is another step needed to clear the channel, Moore said. The freighter’s bow is stuck in the river bottom weighted down by large pieces of the bridge. Crews have removed more than 120 of the ship’s 4,000 containers. The goal is to remove 140 containers.

“Removing the containers is going to help us build a staging area to access the pieces of the bridge that are on top of the Dali,” Moore said.

Moore, a Democrat, expressed approval that the bridge recovery work had been completed to date with no injuries.

“I know it’s been times we can just swell with pride watching how remarkable this team and response has been,” Moore said. “But, I can not and will not shake that we have two souls unaccounted for.”

Six construction workers died on March 26 when the Key Bridge collapsed after being struck by the Dali. Four of the bodies have been recovered, but the search for the last two continues, Moore said.

“The six people who died when the Key Bridge fell that are not just names on a paper,” Moore said. “We think about them every single day.”

On relief to businesses and workers, the state has offered help for losses from the Key Bridge collapse while businesses and community organizations have raised more than $15 million.

The state has approved aid to 58 businesses in one week to prevent layoffs while recovery continues through its worker retention program.

Maryland also will provide weekly income for port workers, who have lost work and income because of the bridge collapse, with the Port of Baltimore Worker Support Program. The program gives a $430 weekly payment to those who regularly worked at the port before the collapse and need assistance due to a loss of job hours and income.

Sun reporter Jean Marbella contributed to this article.