The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers tells Fox News Digital that it’s “too early” to offer an estimate on when the wreckage of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge can be faraway from the Patapsco River to permit marine site visitors to movement freely into the Port of Baltimore once more.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says the navy department has been tasked, together with the Coast Guard, to scrub up the world as a part of a rebuilding course of that he warned Wednesday will “not be quick or easy or cheap.”
“It is too early to provide timeline estimates on channel clearance and reopening,” a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokesperson informed Fox News Digital. “Our priority remains providing support to the U.S. Coast Guard and our state and local partners’ recovery efforts at this time.”
The Army Corps of Engineers says its Baltimore District has activated its emergency operations middle, which clears the way in which for “more than 1,100 engineering, construction, contracting and operations specialists to provide support to local, state and federal agencies” responding to Tuesday’s bridge collapse.
LIVE UPDATES: BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE
The Dali cargo ship rests on the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP/Matt Rourke)
The department says it can present underwater evaluation capabilities, structural engineering assist – together with “certified bridge safety inspectors and urban search and rescue structural technical specialists” – and removing of particles within the waterway that might pose threats to navigation.
Two our bodies had been pulled from the river on Wednesday after divers discovered a submerged pink pickup truck. Four different building staff stay lacking and are presumed lifeless following the collapse.
COULD PROTECTIVE BARRIERS HAVE PREVENTED BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE?
In this picture taken from video launched by the National Transportation and Safety Board, the cargo ship Dali is caught below a part of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (NTSB/AP)
“Based upon the conditions, we’re now moving from a recovery mode to a salvage operation because of the superstructure surrounding what we believe are the vehicles and the amount of concrete and debris; divers are no longer able to safely navigate or operate around that in the areas around this wreckage,” Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland Butler stated.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore additionally stated on Wednesday, “I do not know at this point what the total costs are going to be” and “I do not yet know what the full timeline is going to be.
In this image released by the National Transportation and Safety Board, a NTSB investigator is seen Wednesday on the cargo vessel Dali, which struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. (Peter Knudson/NTSB/AP)
“But the factor that I do know is that the duty in entrance of us, it is going to be actual. It can be daunting. But regardless of this job forward of us being daunting, I can inform you proper now our resolve is unshaken,” he added. “We will get to completion. We will do it collectively. This work will take time, however we’re going to be sure that we’re going to go away nobody behind. We are going to deal with our individuals.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/baltimore-bridge-collapse-us-army-corps-engineers-too-early-know-cleanup-timeline
