Baltimore shipping channel fully reopens after Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse
700-foot channel reopens 11 weeks after Key Bridge collapse
700-foot channel reopens 11 weeks after Key Bridge collapse
700-foot channel reopens 11 weeks after Key Bridge collapse
The main shipping channel into Baltimore’s port has fully reopened to its original depth and width following the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which blocked most maritime traffic into the harbor.
Video above aired before the announcement was released
Original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep are restored for commercial maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore.
"We are proud of the unified efforts that fully reopened the federal channel to port operations," Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, commanding general of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said in a statement released Monday evening. "The partnerships that endured through this response made this pivotal mission successful."
After almost 11 weeks, officials said crews have removed all of the steel, but they were conducting final checks with sonar to ensure no more debris remained below the mudline.
"We will make sure that we are as thorough and disciplined as we have been with every high spot so that whenever we run over the channel, it's safe for navigation," U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Estee Pinchasin, commander of the Baltimore District, told sister station WBAL-TV earlier Monday.
Following the removal of wreckage at the 50-foot mudline, Unified Command performed a survey of the federal channel on Monday and certified the riverbed is safe for transit.
Now, crews are going back with sonar to check out raised spots on the river bed.
"Those portions that were sticking up were explored. Sometimes, it was just the mud, the way the suction from the bucket was left behind, and sometimes, we did pull up very long pieces of wreckage that were deep down some 50 feet, some even up to 80 feet long," Pinchasin said.
The process has taken longer than the end-of-May deadline, but the Army Corps of Engineers wants to be absolutely sure the channel is safe before turning it over.
"We're scheduled to dredge this channel this coming fiscal year 2025 and we want to make sure we don't leave that kind of obstacle for the dredgers that are going to come through," Pinchasin said.
The work isn't completely over; crews still need to remove wreckage outside that channel.
"The Corps of Engineers is never done," Pinchasin said. "This is our channel. We maintain it all the time. We're going to, God willing, be maintaining it for many generations to come."
All of the cleanup and salvage work is scheduled to be complete by the end of June.
The Associated Press contributed to this report