An effort to clear the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge continued Saturday in Baltimore, amid an “ambitious” timeline to reopen the permanent channel to the port of Baltimore by the end of the month, though White House officials have warned the rebuilding process “will not be quick.”
President Joe Biden visited Baltimore on Friday to tour the “mangled mess” of the collapsed bridge, indicating the federal government would “pay for the entire cost” of reconstructing the bridge.
Hours earlier, Unified Command confirmed dive teams recovered the body of a third construction worker from the wreckage, 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval, a week after two other bodies were recovered; six workers on the bridge at the time it collapsed are presumed dead.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released “ambitious timelines” this week to restore access to the port, suggesting the Fort McHenry Channel could be full reopened by the end of May.
The Maryland attorney general’s office is recruiting lawyers to pursue “potential litigation concerning” the bridge’s collapse, the Baltimore Sun reported.
$400 million. That’s the minimum cost expected to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a process that could take anywhere between 18 months and seven years to complete, the Associated Press reported. The bridge opened in 1977 after five years of construction.
The Francis Scott Key Bridge—spanning the Patapsco River in Maryland—collapsed last month after a pier was struck by the MV Dali, a Singapore-flagged cargo ship. Most of the 1.6-mile-long bridge fell into the water, blocking off Baltimore’s port and leaving more than 40 ships stranded in the harbor. Following the bridge’s collapse, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg warned the rebuilding process for the bridge “will not be quick, or easy, or cheap.” A precise timeline for the rebuild won’t be available until an investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is completed, according to Buttigieg, who noted there is an estimated $950 million available in emergency relief funds. A portion of the cargo contains a “wide range of packaged materials” and “consumer goods,” Coast Guard Vice Admiral Peter Gautier said.
Over 500 businesses affected by the bridge’s collapse last week have applied for long-term, low-interest loans to help cover their costs, the Small Business Administration told Forbes earlier this week. SBA Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said the impact of the bridge collapse has “really been felt” by supply chain, logistics and transportation companies that focus their business on the port. Other small businesses from Maryland, Delaware and Pennsylvania are facing “additional ripple effects,” Guzman said.
Baltimore Bridge Collapse: Over 500 Small Businesses Apply For Business Loans (Forbes)
How Long Until The Baltimore Bridge Is Rebuilt? White House Says It ‘Will Not Be Quick, Or Easy, Or Cheap’ (Forbes)
Baltimore Bridge Collapses After It’s Struck By Ship (Forbes)
