3D image of Baltimore’s Key Bridge wreckage in water created as temporary channel opens for commercial traffic
BALTIMORE, Md. (DC News Now) — Tuesday marks a week since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in Baltimore after a cargo ship struck it and officials are making a little more headway with recovery efforts.
An additional temporary channel for commercial traffic was opened and additional technology gave crews a better view of the wreckage that has settled deep in the water.
Officials said with 3D capability, they saw the wreckage under the 50-foot channel was actually far more extensive. Officials said the collapse isn’t just on the seabed it’s below the mudline.
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“We’re getting a much better understanding of what we’re dealing with by bringing in another dive team, by bringing in 3D survey capability and employing that over the last few days and getting a much better picture than what you’re seeing on the skyline,” said Col. Pinchasin with the U.S. Army.
Pinchasin is one of the people involved in the recovery efforts.
“What those 3D surveys demonstrated for us and what they’re indicating is that the wreckage on the bottom of the 50 foot channel is far more extensive than we could have imagined,” said Pinchasin. “We have portions of the wreckage that are completely collapsed.”
He said the 3D view showed that it’s going to be “very difficult” to figure out where and how to cut the debris into “bite size pieces.”
But some positive news, there are now two temporary channels that can support commercial traffic. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the second channel opened at about 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.
On Monday, officials released video of the first vessel that passed through the first temporary channel.
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Moore also said on Tuesday morning, crews set up buoys in the rain to make sure vessels could navigate the waterways.
Moore said one temporary channel is on the northeast side of the collapse with a controlling depth of 11 feet. The temporary channel that opened on Tuesday measures 14 feet in depth.
“These channels will support traffic from small boats and yesterday we had one fuel barge and one scrap barge. One scrap barge moved through the temporary channel on the north side and I am thankful that only after a week after the collapse, we have pathways and channels so commercial traffic [can go] through,” Moore said.
The governor said for all vehicle transport and for containers, there needs to be a depth of at least 35 feet so they can move through the port of Baltimore. He said there’s still a long way to get the size of commercial traffic back to where it was.
Crews said the weather is impacting the recovery efforts, making it unsafe for rescue divers to return to the water.
“We have to move fast but we cannot be careless. We promised these families that we would do everything in our power to bring them closure,” Moore said. “My directive is to complete the mission with no injuries and no casualties. We have already lost six Marylanders. We will not lose anymore.”
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As for what’s next with the efforts in Baltimore, Moore said two business resource centers are fully operational. He said he is working closely with Maryland’s General Assembly on the PORT Act, as his office has offered several amendments to the measure.
“We cannot possibly find every answer to every problem in the next few days before session ends, but we can give the state the ability to respond and quickly over the next months,” the governor said.
Moore extended the legislative session to allow more time for lawmakers to work on the state budget and help for Baltimore.
President Joe Biden is also expected to visit the Key Bridge collapse site on Friday.
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