(Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
Inside the massive three-step cleanup of Baltimore’s Key Bridge
The cleanup of the wreckage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge is underway. Hundreds of engineers, workers and divers have rushed to the scene of what some predict could be the most expensive disaster in maritime history.
Using massive barges and floating cranes, crews are clearing the hulking pieces of steel and hunks of concrete that have crippled the Port of Baltimore and spread economic pain locally and nationally.
Experts say the road ahead will be long, dangerous and expensive. One analysis predicted insurance payouts from the bridge collapse could total $2 billion to $4 billion.
The task before the crews is daunting. The waters of the Patapsco River are chilly and inky. Twisted steel could suddenly shift, imperiling workers. There are still 764 tons of hazardous materials on the stranded ship. Those are just a few of the challenges.
By Sunday, crews had removed debris equivalent to the weight of the Statue of Liberty and opened two small channels near the wreckage to allow limited boat traffic to the port. A third, deeper water channel will be opened by the end of April, and officials hope to restore normal traffic by the end of May.
Officials say they will proceed with a three-step plan: Clear the 50-foot-deep, 700-foot-wide shipping channel, remove the bridge trusses resting on the cargo ship and float it away, and clear the riverbed of any remaining debris. Work on each step is happening at the same time.
Step 1: Clear the shipping channel
Much of the 1.6-mile span of the Key Bridge fell on March 26, when it was rammed by the 985-foot-long container ship Dali, plunging 5,000 tons of steel and concrete into the Patapsco River.
Officials plan to clear the shipping channel by chopping up the bridge into smaller pieces that can be hoisted by floating cranes, including one with a lift capacity of 330 tons and another that can pull up to 650 tons. The latter is the equivalent of lifting roughly six Boeing 737 jet planes.
The wreckage is then deposited onto nearby barges to take to shore.
Officials said it took 10 hours to clear the first, 200-ton piece of the bridge.
They have to work carefully. The trusses can shift as they are cut. Teams have to reassess the stability of the wreckage after each piece is removed. Authorities are cognizant that the bodies of three of six construction workers who were on the bridge at the time of the collapse are possibly buried in rubble on the riverbed.
Step 2: Float the 95,000-ton container ship
Even as they work to open the shipping lane, crews are also turning their attention to the Dali. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) said at a recent news conference that 3,000 to 4,000 tons of bridge trusses are draped across the bow of the ship. They have crushed cargo containers like tin cans.
Teams have begun removing some of the 4,700 containers aboard the Dali to make it easier to lift the steel trusses off the vessel and refloat it.
The Chesapeake 1000 — one of the largest floating cranes on the East Coast that can hoist up to 1,000 tons — will be used to lift pieces of the trusses after they are cut up.
Officials have said the Dali is resting on the bed of the Patapsco, so it will have to be checked for seaworthiness and then stabilized with tugboats and anchors. The crew of 21 sailors remains onboard.
Step 3: Remove the remaining wreckage from the Patapsco River
The final step in the cleanup will focus on whatever debris remains on the river bed, which could possibly include fallen cargo containers, trusses or hunks of concrete from the road that spanned the bridge.
Officials said at a recent news conference that 3D imaging shows a jumble of “pancaked” wreckage on the floor of the Patapsco, which will complicate cleanup efforts. They said it is difficult to know where to cut the pieces, and some of the steel and concrete is embedded in the muddy bottom.
Divers are surveying the wreckage underwater and slicing it up with guidance from teams on the surface because of low visibility of one to two feet.
Officials said some of the debris probably will be dredged up with bucket scoops.
Reopening a major American port
Officials have declined to offer a timeline for how long the entire cleanup will take, but some marine salvage experts said it could last months. Time is of the essence because every day the port remains largely closed, thousands of workers remain idle and millions of dollars worth of cargo cannot be offloaded at one of the nation’s busiest ports.
The timeline for rebuilding the Key Bridge is even more uncertain. The original span, which opened in 1977, took five years to build and cost $220 million. Experts have estimated a new bridge could cost billions and take years to construct.
President Biden has pledged the federal government will foot the bill. He visited Baltimore on Friday.
About this story
Due to the uncertainty of the configuration of the debris in the river, renderings may not be to scale.
Edited by Manuel Canales, Tara McCarty and Matt Zapotosky. Copy edited by Dorine Bethea.