A 1,000-ton crane, said to be one of the largest on the East Coast, appeared near the site of a collapsed highway bridge in Baltimore as crews prepared to begin clearing the wreckage on Friday, hampering efforts to investigate the disappearance of four people missing and presumed dead. Workers searched and blocked ships from entering and leaving the city’s key port.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore called the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after it was struck by a freighter an “economic disaster” and described the challenges of recovering workers’ bodies and clearing away vast amounts of debris to reopen the Port of Baltimore.
“We’re not just talking about the economy of Maryland today; it’s the economy of Maryland.” “This is about the state’s economy,” Moore said at a news conference, with giant cranes standing in the background. “The port handles more automobiles and farm equipment than any other port in the country.”
Moore went to the scene Friday and said he saw containers shredded “like pulp.” Moore said the fragments of the bridge weighed 4,000 tons, and crews needed to cut through the steel trusses before they could lift it from the Patapsco River.
Moore said existing equipment will include seven floating cranes, 10 tugboats, nine barges, eight salvage vessels and five Coast Guard vessels. Most of it comes from the Navy.
“Getting out there and seeing it up close, you realize what a monumental task it is. You realize how difficult the job is before us,” Moore said. “For a rescue operation this complex – and frankly, for a rescue operation this unprecedented – you need to plan for every moment.”
Moore said water conditions prevent divers from accessing the river. When the situation changes, they will continue efforts to rescue construction workers who were repairing potholes on the bridge when it collapsed early Tuesday.
Rear Adm. Shannon Gillies said the Coast Guard is focused on clearing the port’s shipping lanes by removing debris from the bridge and container ships that hit it.
Gillies said a team of engineers from the Army Corps of Engineers, Navy and Coast Guard, as well as some private sector experts, are evaluating how to “break the bridge into appropriately sized pieces that we can lift.”
The Maryland Department of Transportation is already focused on building a new bridge and is “considering innovative design, engineering and construction methods so that we can quickly deliver this project,” Secretary Paul J. Wiedefeld said.
Adam Ortiz, administrator for the Mid-Atlantic Region of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said there was no indication that the vessel was actively releasing substances or that substances harmful to human health were present in the water.
Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland L. Butler said the Federal Aviation Administration has been asked to establish a tactical flight restriction zone that extends 3 nautical miles in all directions from the bridge’s center span and up to 1,500 feet.
Butler advised people to keep drones away from the area and said law enforcement was prepared to take action against any violation of that airspace.
Officials said the victims of the bridge collapse were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. At least eight people initially fell overboard when the boat hit a bridge pillar, two of whom were rescued.
Divers recovered the bodies of two men from a pickup truck in the river, but the nature and location of the wreckage complicated efforts to find the other four workers.
“Divers can put their hands on the panel, but they can’t even see their hands,” said Donald Gibbons, an instructor at the Carpenter Technical Center in East Atlantic State. “So we say zero visibility. It’s very similar to locking yourself in a dark closet on a dark night and not really being able to see anything.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has approved $60 million in emergency aid, and Biden said the federal government will cover the entire cost of rebuilding the bridge, which connects to Interstate 695.
Vessel traffic remains suspended at the Port of Baltimore, but the Maryland Ports Authority said in a statement Friday that trucks were still being processed at the marine terminal.
The loss of a road that carries 30,000 vehicles a day and port disruptions would not only affect thousands of longshoremen and commuters, but also American consumers, who could feel the impact of shipping delays.
Scott Cowan, president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 333, said the union is working to help its roughly 2,400 members who are at risk of losing their jobs.
“If there are no boats, there are no jobs,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
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